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

Verify the previous-sibling ID exists via block info (CLI batch-get or /api/block/getBlockInfo) and correct typos

previous block not found

Error message

previous block not found: %s

What it means

When moving a block with a --previousID (the sibling the moved block should follow), validateBlockMove looks up that sibling in the block tree. If no block tree node exists for it, this error is returned (kernel/cli/cmd/block.go:462), meaning the referenced previous-sibling block does not exist or is not indexed.

Solutions

Verify the previous-sibling ID exists via block info (CLI batch-get or /api/block/getBlockInfo) and correct typos
Re-list the sibling blocks of the target parent and use a current block ID as --previous
If the sibling no longer exists, use --parent with the containing parent ID instead of --previous
Ensure the notebook containing the sibling is open/synced so the block tree index contains it

Example fix

// before
siyuan block move --id 20240101120000-block1 --previous 20240101120000-deleted
// after
siyuan block move --id 20240101120000-block1 --previous 20240101120000-currentsibling

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if ! siyuan block batch-get --ids "$PREVIOUS_ID" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  echo "previous sibling $PREVIOUS_ID does not exist" >&2; exit 1
fi

Try / catch

err := validateBlockMove(id, parentID, previousID)
if err != nil {
    if strings.HasPrefix(err.Error(), "previous block not found") {
        // fall back to parent-based placement
    }
    return err
}

Prevention

Resolve previous-sibling IDs from a fresh block listing at run time, not cached values
Validate all IDs with batch-get before a batch move
Prefer --parent placement when sibling existence is uncertain

When it happens

Trigger: Running a block move command with --previous <id> where the ID is mistyped, was deleted, points to a block in a closed/unloaded notebook, or points to an entity that was never a block (e.g. a notebook ID or asset path).

Common situations: Stale IDs cached from an earlier sync or export; typos when hand-writing CLI scripts; moving blocks after the previous sibling was removed by a concurrent edit; referencing a block in a notebook that is not currently open.

Understand the failure class

Background: 'Could not be found', 'does not exist', 'not found in database': the resource-not-found family when an ID, slug, key, or URI lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of siyuan-note/siyuan@9f775e8a12 (2026-09-19). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c5f724d55db2956d. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at kernel/cli/cmd/block.go:462

		}
		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
	}
	return treenode.CheckContainerParent(parentID)
}

var blockBatchGetCmd = &cobra.Command{
	Use:   "batch-get --ids id1,id2,...",
	Short: "Batch get block info",
	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
		idsStr, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("ids")
		if idsStr == "" {

View on GitHub (pinned to 9f775e8a12)