hasura/graphql-engine · error

moving seeds to target database directory: %w

Error message

moving seeds to target database directory: %w

What it means

UpdateProjectV3 could not copy seed files into the new per-database seeds directory via copyFiles/util.CopyFileAfero. The wrapped error carries the underlying copy failure.

Source

Thrown at cli/internal/scripts/update-project-v3.go:198

	}

	// 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

	newConfig.Version = cli.V3
	if err := opts.EC.WriteConfig(&newConfig); err != nil {
		return errors.E(op, err)
	}

	opts.EC.Config = &newConfig
	opts.EC.Logger.Debug("completed: generate new config file")

	opts.EC.Logger.Debug("start: delete old migrations and seeds")

View on GitHub (pinned to 724551b9ae)

Solutions

1. Check the wrapped error for the failing file; restore it if missing
2. Fix read/write permissions on the seeds directory
3. Restore seeds/ from version control and re-run the script
4. Re-run `hasura scripts update-project-v3`

for _, f := range seedFiles {
    if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(seedsDir, f)); err != nil {
        return fmt.Errorf("missing seed file %s", f)
    }
}

if err := scripts.UpdateProjectV3(opts); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "moving seeds to target database directory") { /* verify files, restore from VCS, retry */ }
}

When it happens

Trigger: `hasura scripts update-project-v3` when a seed file cannot be read from the seeds root or written into seeds/<targetDatabase> (permissions, deleted mid-run, disk full).

Common situations: Seeds edited or removed by a teammate/tool during the upgrade, unwritable seeds directory, or a partial previous run leaving inconsistent state.

Related errors

• error in copying starter kit: %w
• getting list of seed files to move: %w
• creating target seeds directory: %w
• moving migrations to target database directory: %w
• moving %s to %s : %w

AI-assisted analysis of hasura/graphql-engine@724551b9ae (2026-08-28). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5efcedf3806b9e1a. Report an issue: GitHub.