paperclipai/paperclip · error · Error

${label} has pending migrations (${formatPendingMigrationSum

Error message

${label} has pending migrations (${formatPendingMigrationSummary(state.pendingMigrations)}). Refusing to start against a stale schema. Run pnpm db:migrate or set PAPERCLIP_MIGRATION_AUTO_APPLY=true.

What it means

Error "${label} has pending migrations (${formatPendingMigrationSummary(state.pendingMigrations)}). Refusing to start against a stale schema. Run pnpm db:migrate or set PAPERCLIP_MIGRATION_AUTO_APPLY=true." thrown in paperclipai/paperclip.

Source

Thrown at server/src/index.ts:275

  async function ensureMigrations(
    connectionString: string,
    label: string,
    opts?: EnsureMigrationsOptions,
  ): Promise<MigrationSummary> {
    const autoApply = opts?.autoApply === true;
    let state = await inspectMigrations(connectionString);
    if (state.status === "needsMigrations" && state.reason === "pending-migrations") {
      const repair = await reconcilePendingMigrationHistory(connectionString);
      if (repair.repairedMigrations.length > 0) {
        logger.warn(
          { repairedMigrations: repair.repairedMigrations },
          `${label} had drifted migration history; repaired migration journal entries from existing schema state.`,
        );
        state = await inspectMigrations(connectionString);
        if (state.status === "upToDate") return "already applied";
      }
    }
    if (state.status === "upToDate") return "already applied";
    if (state.status === "needsMigrations" && state.reason === "no-migration-journal-non-empty-db") {
      logger.warn(
        { tableCount: state.tableCount },
        `${label} has existing tables but no migration journal. Run migrations manually to sync schema.`,
      );
      const apply = autoApply ? true : await promptApplyMigrations(state.pendingMigrations);
      if (!apply) {
        throw new Error(
          `${label} has pending migrations (${formatPendingMigrationSummary(state.pendingMigrations)}). ` +
            "Refusing to start against a stale schema. Run pnpm db:migrate or set PAPERCLIP_MIGRATION_AUTO_APPLY=true.",
        );
      }
  
      logger.info({ pendingMigrations: state.pendingMigrations }, `Applying ${state.pendingMigrations.length} pending migrations for ${label}`);
      await applyPendingMigrations(connectionString);
      return "applied (pending migrations)";
    }
  

View on GitHub (pinned to 01ad858492)

Solutions

1. Run pnpm db:migrate to apply the pending migrations.
2. Set PAPERCLIP_MIGRATION_AUTO_APPLY=true to apply migrations automatically on startup.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at server/src/index.ts:217 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of paperclipai/paperclip@01ad858492 (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1f0d8597a8f07431. Report an issue: GitHub.