What causes "block not found: %s" in siyuan-note/siyuan?

Confirm existence: `siyuan-kernel sql "SELECT id,type FROM blocks WHERE id=' '"`

block not found: %s

Error message

block not found: %s

What it means

Thrown inside `validateBlockMove(id, parentID, previousID)` when `treenode.GetBlockTree(id)` returns nil — the block to be moved is not present in the `blocktrees` SQLite table. `GetBlockTree` returns nil for unknown IDs, unmounted notebooks, encrypted-but-locked notebooks, and DB errors. This is a data-existence error, not an argument error.

Source

Thrown at kernel/cli/cmd/block.go:437

				ParentID:   parentID,
				PreviousID: previousID,
			}},
		}
		if err := model.PerformTxSync(transaction); err != nil {
			return err
		}
		if bt := treenode.GetBlockTree(id); bt != nil {
			model.AppendPushReloadProtyleEntry(bt.RootID)
		}
		fmt.Println("ok")
		return nil
	},
}

func validateBlockMove(id, parentID, previousID string) error {
	bt := treenode.GetBlockTree(id)
	if nil == bt {
		return fmt.Errorf("block not found: %s", id)
	}
	if "d" == bt.Type {
		return fmt.Errorf("document block [%s] cannot be moved with block move; use document move instead", id)
	}

	if "" != previousID {
		previousBt := treenode.GetBlockTree(previousID)
		if nil == previousBt {
			return fmt.Errorf("previous block not found: %s", previousID)
		}
		if "d" == previousBt.Type {
			return fmt.Errorf("document block [%s] cannot be used as a previous sibling; use it as --parent instead", previousID)
		}
		return nil
	}
	if err := treenode.CheckListItemNesting(parentID, id); err != nil {
		return err
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 251596fc0d)

Solutions

Confirm existence: `siyuan-kernel sql "SELECT id,type FROM blocks WHERE id='<id>'"`
Ensure the owning notebook is mounted/opened in this workspace
Unlock encrypted notebooks so the blocktree lookup (which falls back to per-box scan) can resolve them
Wait for kernel indexing to finish, then retry

Example fix

// before
siyuan-kernel block move --id 00000000000000-nonexist --parent <dest>
// after
siyuan-kernel block move --id 20260605100657-v080a4j --parent <dest>  # verified via sql

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Confirm the mover block exists before attempting the move.
bt := treenode.GetBlockTree(moverID)
if bt == nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("mover block %s not found; cannot move", moverID)
}

Type guard

func blockExists(id string) bool {
    return strings.TrimSpace(id) != "" && treenode.GetBlockTree(id) != nil
}

Prevention

Resolve the blocktree entry once and reuse it for type checks too (covers errors 176, 177)
Mount/unlock relevant notebooks before batch moves
Wait for indexing to finish before relying on blocktree lookups

When it happens

Trigger: Passing an `--id` that does not exist in the current workspace; the block's notebook is closed; the blocktree DB is not yet populated (kernel still indexing); the ID was deleted.

Common situations: Stale block ID copied from another workspace; running the CLI before indexing completes; encrypted notebook not unlocked; typo or truncated ID.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of siyuan-note/siyuan@251596fc0d (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/afb59e4d0d1d56ba. Report an issue: GitHub.