hasura/graphql-engine · error

moving migrations to target database directory: %w

Error message

moving migrations to target database directory: %w

What it means

UpdateProjectV3 could not copy the old per-database migration directories into the newly created target migrations directory. copyMigrations uses util.CopyDirAfero/CopyFileAfero and this error wraps their failure.

Source

Thrown at cli/internal/scripts/update-project-v3.go:189

	targetMigrationsDirectoryName := filepath.Join(opts.MigrationsAbsDirectoryPath, targetDatabase)
	if err = opts.Fs.Mkdir(targetMigrationsDirectoryName, 0o755); err != nil {
		return errors.E(op, fmt.Errorf("creating target migrations directory: %w", err))
	}

	// create a new directory for TargetDatabase
	targetSeedsDirectoryName := filepath.Join(opts.SeedsAbsDirectoryPath, targetDatabase)
	if err = opts.Fs.Mkdir(targetSeedsDirectoryName, 0o755); err != nil {
		return errors.E(op, fmt.Errorf("creating target seeds directory: %w", err))
	}

	// move migration directories to target database directory
	if err := copyMigrations(
		opts.Fs,
		migrationDirectoriesToMove,
		opts.MigrationsAbsDirectoryPath,
		targetMigrationsDirectoryName,
	); err != nil {
		return errors.E(op, fmt.Errorf("moving migrations to target database directory: %w", err))
	}
	// move seed directories to target database directory
	if err := copyFiles(
		opts.Fs,
		seedFilesToMove,
		opts.SeedsAbsDirectoryPath,
		targetSeedsDirectoryName,
	); err != nil {
		return errors.E(op, fmt.Errorf("moving seeds to target database directory: %w", err))
	}

	opts.EC.Logger.Debug("completed: copy old migrations to new directory structure")

	opts.EC.Logger.Debug("start: generate new config file")
	opts.EC.Spin("Generating new config file ")
	// write new config file
	newConfig := *opts.EC.Config

View on GitHub (pinned to 724551b9ae)

Solutions

1. Check the wrapped error for the exact file that failed; verify it exists and is readable
2. Free disk space and close programs holding locks on the migrations directory
3. Restore a clean backup of migrations/ and re-run the script
4. Re-run `hasura scripts update-project-v3`

for _, d := range migrationDirs {
    if fi, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(migrationsDir, d)); err != nil || !fi.IsDir() {
        return fmt.Errorf("missing migration dir %s", d)
    }
}

if err := scripts.UpdateProjectV3(opts); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "moving migrations to target database directory") { /* check locked/missing files, retry */ }
}

When it happens

Trigger: `hasura scripts update-project-v3` when a migration directory or file listed for the move cannot be read (permissions, missing after concurrent modification) or written into the new target directory.

Common situations: Locked files (Windows/IDE), migrations modified by another process mid-upgrade, disk full, or a stale file list from a partially completed earlier run.

Related errors

• moving %s to %s : %w
• error in copying starter kit: %w
• getting list of migrations to move: %w
• moving seeds to target database directory: %w
• removing up original migrations: %w

AI-assisted analysis of hasura/graphql-engine@724551b9ae (2026-08-28). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f70318094923dc14. Report an issue: GitHub.