gastownhall/beads · error

writing managed sql-server config: %w

Error message

writing managed sql-server config: %w

What it means

Start() writes the rendered YAML to the managed config file (mode 0600) so the child dolt sql-server can load it via -config. An os.WriteFile failure is wrapped as 'writing managed sql-server config'. Non-explicit ports retry; explicit ports stop and surface lastErr.

Source

Thrown at internal/doltserver/doltserver.go:1412

					if !explicitPort {
						continue
					}
					break
				}
				// filepath.Abs defensively: the child's cwd is doltDir (cmd.Dir
				// below), so a relative configPath would resolve against the
				// wrong directory (matches the sibling dbproxy/server path,
				// which abs's its configPath in NewDoltServer).
				absConfigPath, absErr := filepath.Abs(doltServerConfigPath(beadsDir))
				if absErr != nil {
					lastErr = fmt.Errorf("resolving managed sql-server config path: %w", absErr)
					if !explicitPort {
						continue
					}
					break
				}
				if werr := os.WriteFile(absConfigPath, cfgBody, 0600); werr != nil {
					lastErr = fmt.Errorf("writing managed sql-server config: %w", werr)
					if !explicitPort {
						continue
					}
					break
				}
				cmdArgs = buildDoltServerArgsWithConfig(absConfigPath, debug, profDir)
			} else {
				cmdArgs = buildDoltServerArgs(cfg.Host, actualPort, debug, profDir)
			}

			cmd := exec.Command(doltBin, cmdArgs...) //nolint:gosec // doltBin is resolved from PATH, not user input
			cmd.Dir = doltDir
			cmd.Stdout = logFile
			cmd.Stderr = logFile
			cmd.Stdin = nil
			cmd.SysProcAttr = procAttrDetached()
			cmd.Env = ServerSpawnEnv()

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

1. Check the beads dir is writable by the current user (ls -ld; chown/chmod if needed).
2. Remove any directory/file collision at the config path (a directory named like the config file).
3. Free disk space / check quota (df -h, quota).
4. Confirm no external process (backup/sync tool) is deleting or replacing the beads dir during startup.

Example fix

// before
ls -ld ~/.beads   # dr-xr-xr-x, read-only
// after
chmod u+w ~/.beads && bd start

const cfgPath = path.join(dataDir, 'dolt-server.yaml');
const st = await fs.stat(dataDir).catch(() => null);
if (!st || !st.isDirectory()) throw new Error('beads dir missing');
await fs.access(dataDir, fs.constants.W_OK);
await fs.access(path.dirname(cfgPath), fs.constants.W_OK);

null

try {
  await bdStart();
} catch (e) {
  if (/writing managed sql-server config/.test(e.message)) {
    // chown/chmod the beads dir, check disk space, then retry
  }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: os.WriteFile(absConfigPath, cfgBody, 0600) fails: parent directory missing/unwritable, disk full, or path points at a directory.

Common situations: Read-only filesystem after mount remount; quota exceeded; beads dir recreated by another process mid-start; permission drift after running bd as different users.

Related errors

• resolving .doltcfg directory: %w
• resolving managed sql-server config path: %w
• multiple .doltcfg directories detected
• write metadata.json: %w
• %s: %w

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1530832ff20c8bcc. Report an issue: GitHub.