plandex-ai/plandex · error

error checking settings: %v

Error message

error checking settings: %v

What it means

During Connect, the code queries pg_settings for statement_timeout, lock_timeout, TimeZone, and idle_in_transaction_session_timeout. This error wraps a failure of that diagnostic SELECT. It indicates the connection opened but the settings-introspection query failed, so Connect aborts.

Source

Thrown at app/server/db/db.go:80

		Conn.SetMaxIdleConns(5)
	}

	// Verify settings
	type setting struct {
		Name    string  `db:"name"`
		Setting string  `db:"setting"`
		Unit    *string `db:"unit"`
		Context string  `db:"context"`
	}

	var settings []setting
	err = Conn.Select(&settings, `
		SELECT name, setting, unit, context 
		FROM pg_settings 
		WHERE name IN ('statement_timeout', 'lock_timeout', 'TimeZone', 'idle_in_transaction_session_timeout')
`)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("error checking settings: %v", err)
	}

	s := ""
	for _, setting := range settings {
		unitStr := ""
		if setting.Unit != nil {
			unitStr = " " + *setting.Unit // Add a leading space only if there's a unit
		}
		s += fmt.Sprintf("- %s = %s%s (context: %s)\n", setting.Name, setting.Setting, unitStr, setting.Context)
	}
	log.Printf("\n\nDatabase settings:\n%s\n", s)

	return nil
}

func MigrationsUp() error {
	migrationsDir := "migrations"
	if os.Getenv("MIGRATIONS_DIR") != "" {

View on GitHub (pinned to e2d772072e)

Solutions

1. Check the wrapped %v error for the concrete cause (permission, connection reset, timeout)
2. Verify the DSN and that the server is a real PostgreSQL instance with pg_settings readable
3. Retry MustInitDb with backoff for transient network issues
4. Grant the connecting role access to pg_settings or relax the settings check

Example fix

// before
return fmt.Errorf("error checking settings: %v", err)
// after
log.Printf("settings check failed (non-fatal): %v", err) // continue if only advisory
return nil

var live bool
if err := Conn.Get(&live, "SELECT true"); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("db not usable before settings check: %v", err)
}

if err := MustInitDb(); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "error checking settings") {
        time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
        return MustInitDb() // retry transient startup blips
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: MustInitDb -> Connect where the pg_settings SELECT fails: connection dropped after ping, insufficient privileges to read pg_settings, TLS/proxy interruptions, or statement_timeout already killing the query.

Common situations: Managed postgres (RDS/Cloud SQL) with restricted catalog access; pgbouncer/proxy idle disconnects; network blips at startup; wrong DSN pointing at a non-postgres backend.

Related errors

• error adding convo tokens: %v
• error creating postgres driver: %v
• error starting transaction: %v
• error iterating over repo locks: %v
• error validating org membership: %v

AI-assisted analysis of plandex-ai/plandex@e2d772072e (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/459f19d606975f5c. Report an issue: GitHub.