gastownhall/beads · error

status does not support %s operator

Error message

status does not support %s operator

What it means

The query evaluator only supports Equals and NotEquals comparisons on the `status` field. When a query filter compares status with any other operator (e.g. >, <, >=, <=, ~), buildStatusPredicate returns this error. It is a static query-language restriction, not a runtime data problem.

Source

Thrown at internal/query/evaluator.go:746

	case "has_metadata_key":
		return e.buildHasMetadataKeyPredicate(comp)
	default:
		if strings.HasPrefix(comp.Field, "metadata.") {
			return e.buildMetadataPredicate(comp)
		}
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unknown field: %s", comp.Field)
	}
}

func (e *Evaluator) buildStatusPredicate(comp *ComparisonNode) (func(*types.Issue) bool, error) {
	status := types.Status(strings.ToLower(comp.Value))
	switch comp.Op {
	case OpEquals:
		return func(i *types.Issue) bool { return i.Status == status }, nil
	case OpNotEquals:
		return func(i *types.Issue) bool { return i.Status != status }, nil
	default:
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("status does not support %s operator", comp.Op.String())
	}
}

func (e *Evaluator) buildPriorityPredicate(comp *ComparisonNode) (func(*types.Issue) bool, error) {
	priority, err := strconv.Atoi(comp.Value)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid priority: %s", comp.Value)
	}
	switch comp.Op {
	case OpEquals:
		return func(i *types.Issue) bool { return i.Priority == priority }, nil
	case OpNotEquals:
		return func(i *types.Issue) bool { return i.Priority != priority }, nil
	case OpLess:
		return func(i *types.Issue) bool { return i.Priority < priority }, nil
	case OpLessEq:
		return func(i *types.Issue) bool { return i.Priority <= priority }, nil
	case OpGreater:

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

  1. Rewrite the filter to use `=` or `!=` on status, e.g. `status = open`.
  2. If you need multiple statuses, combine with OR: `status = open OR status = in_progress`.
  3. If an ordering comparison was intended, order by priority or created date instead of status.

Example fix

// before (query string)
bd list --query "status > open"
// after
bd list --query "status = open OR status = in_progress"
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Go: validate before building/running the query
func validStatusOp(op query.Op) bool { return op == query.OpEquals || op == query.OpNotEquals }
if !validStatusOp(comp.Op) {
    return fmt.Errorf("rewrite filter: use = or != for status, got %s", comp.Op)
}

Try / catch

// Go
pred, err := e.buildComparisonPredicate(node)
if err != nil {
    var qe *QueryError
    if errors.As(err, &qe) { /* surface field/operator to user */ }
    return fmt.Errorf("bad filter %q: %w", node.String(), err)
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Running a bd query (bd list / search with a query string) whose WHERE-style comparison uses a non-equality operator on status, e.g. `status > open` or `status ~ in_progress`.

Common situations: Users assuming status is ordered (open < in_progress < closed) and trying range operators; copy-pasting numeric/label comparison syntax from other query languages; typos where an intended field like priority got the status key.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e320fc298ea01d47. Report an issue: GitHub.