github/github-mcp-server · error

failed to query issue fields metadata: %w

Error message

failed to query issue fields metadata: %w

What it means

resolveIssueRequestFieldValues (pkg/github/issues.go:315) runs a GraphQL metadata query to map issue_fields names to database IDs before an issue write. The query runs under preview feature context ghcontext.WithGraphQLFeatures(ctx, "issue_fields", "repo_issue_fields"). This error means that GraphQL query failed: preview not available to the token/repo, auth failure, rate limit, or a transport error.

Source

Thrown at pkg/github/issues.go:315

		})
	}

	return issueFields, nil
}

func resolveIssueRequestFieldValues(ctx context.Context, gqlClient *githubv4.Client, owner, repo string, issueFields []issueWriteFieldInput) ([]*github.IssueRequestFieldValue, []int64, error) {
	if len(issueFields) == 0 {
		return nil, nil, nil
	}

	ctxWithFeatures := ghcontext.WithGraphQLFeatures(ctx, "issue_fields", "repo_issue_fields")
	var query issueFieldWriteMetadataQuery
	vars := map[string]any{
		"owner": githubv4.String(owner),
		"repo":  githubv4.String(repo),
	}
	if err := gqlClient.Query(ctxWithFeatures, &query, vars); err != nil {
		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to query issue fields metadata: %w", err)
	}

	// Build name → node map, dispatching on concrete type to extract name.
	fieldByName := make(map[string]issueFieldWriteMetadataNode, len(query.Repository.IssueFields.Nodes))
	for _, node := range query.Repository.IssueFields.Nodes {
		var name string
		switch string(node.TypeName) {
		case "IssueFieldText":
			name = string(node.IssueFieldText.Name)
		case "IssueFieldNumber":
			name = string(node.IssueFieldNumber.Name)
		case "IssueFieldDate":
			name = string(node.IssueFieldDate.Name)
		case "IssueFieldSingleSelect":
			name = string(node.IssueFieldSingleSelect.Name)
		default:
			continue
		}

View on GitHub (pinned to 0ea1f775a7)

Solutions

1. Confirm issue fields are actually configured on the repository (repo Settings → Issues → fields)
2. Test the token against the GraphQL endpoint directly with a trivial query to separate auth/preview from network issues
3. Wait out the GraphQL rate limit if exhausted (check x-ratelimit-remaining)
4. On GHES, verify the version supports issue fields and the GraphQL host is configured

Example fix

# before
update_issue {"issue_fields": [...]} on a repo with no issue fields configured

# after
# configure fields in repo settings first, then:
update_issue {"issue_fields": [{"field_name": "Priority", "field_option_name": "P0"}]}

// smoke-test the token's access to the previewed metadata before batch updates
var probe struct {
    Repository struct {
        IssueFields struct{ Nodes []struct{ TypeName string `json:"__typename"` } } `graphql:"issueFields(first: 1)"` // adjust to actual probe shape
    } `graphql:"repository(owner: $owner, name: $repo)"`
}
if err := gqlClient.Query(ghcontext.WithGraphQLFeatures(ctx, "issue_fields", "repo_issue_fields"), &probe, vars); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("issue fields unavailable for this token/repo: %w", err)
}

if err := gqlClient.Query(ctxWithFeatures, &query, vars); err != nil {
    msg := err.Error()
    switch {
    case strings.Contains(msg, "Bad credentials"):
        return fmt.Errorf("invalid token")
    case strings.Contains(msg, "rate limit"):
        time.Sleep(waitForReset())
        return retry()
    case strings.Contains(msg, "Could not resolve to"):
        return fmt.Errorf("repository %s/%s not visible", owner, repo)
    }
    return fmt.Errorf("issue fields not supported here (preview/GHES?): %w", err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: update_issue/create_issue with issue_fields where the repository or token cannot use the issue-fields preview (GitHub returns an error for the previewed selection), 401 bad credentials, GraphQL rate limit exhausted, GHES without issue-fields support, or network failure to the GraphQL endpoint.

Common situations: Orgs/repos where issue fields are not enabled or not rolled out; tokens (fine-grained PATs, GitHub Apps) without the preview; older GHES; scripts burning GraphQL quota; the token can use REST fine but GraphQL fails on previewed fields.

Related errors

• failed to get issue ID: %w
• failed to fetch existing issue field values: %w
• issue field %q was not found in %s/%s
• issue field %q is missing fullDatabaseId
• issue field %q is %q, so field_option_name cannot be used

AI-assisted analysis of github/github-mcp-server@0ea1f775a7 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0530cff2425b4640. Report an issue: GitHub.