thedotmack/claude-mem · error · Error

generation_job_id source model must match observation source

Error message

generation_job_id source model must match observation source

What it means

After locating the generation job, its stored source_type and source_id are compared with the observation source being linked. Any mismatch means the job did not run for this particular source, so attaching it to the observation would misattribute provenance; the library throws instead.

Solutions

Look up the job and confirm its source_type/source_id columns equal the sourceType/sourceId you pass to addSource.
Pass the generation job id that was actually created for this specific sourceId/sourceType pair.
Fix loop code that assigns a single generationJobId across multiple different sources.

Example fix

// before
for (const src of sources) {
  await repo.addSource({ ...src, generationJobId: firstJobId });
}
// after
for (const src of sources) {
  const job = jobsBySource.get(`${src.sourceType}:${src.sourceId}`);
  await repo.addSource({ ...src, generationJobId: job?.id ?? null });
}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const job = await db.one(
  'SELECT source_type, source_id FROM observation_generation_jobs WHERE id = $1', [generationJobId]
);
if (job.source_type !== sourceType || job.source_id !== sourceId) {
  throw new Error(`job ${generationJobId} does not match ${sourceType}:${sourceId}`);
}

Type guard

function jobMatchesSource(job: { source_type: string; source_id: string }, src: { sourceType: string; sourceId: string }): boolean {
  return job.source_type === src.sourceType && job.source_id === src.sourceId;
}

Try / catch

try {
  await repo.addSource(input);
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof Error && e.message === 'generation_job_id source model must match observation source') {
    logger.warn('job/source pairing mismatch', { jobId: input.generationJobId, src: input.sourceId });
    return null;
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

Keep a Map from `${sourceType}:${sourceId}` to its generation job id instead of reusing one id.
Pair jobs to sources by key, never by loop index.
Add an assertion in the generation pipeline that each job is consumed exactly once for its own source.

When it happens

Trigger: addSource called with a valid but unrelated generationJobId — the job's (source_type, source_id) differ from the input's sourceType/sourceId, e.g. attaching job X (for event A) to a source record for event B.

Common situations: Looping over sources and reusing one job id for all of them; off-by-one pairing of jobs to sources after reordering; copying job ids between rows; retries that lost the original job-to-source mapping.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Must be a positive integer", "Invalid value", "Unsupported": the invalid-argument-value error family, when a library rejects the value you pass — this error's family across 35 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of thedotmack/claude-mem@d8bc9755e7 (2026-09-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/62705560e62eaa79. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/storage/postgres/observations.ts:353

  const row = await queryOne<{
    id: string;
    source_type: string;
    source_id: string;
    agent_event_id: string | null;
  }>(
    client,
    `
      SELECT id, source_type, source_id, agent_event_id
      FROM observation_generation_jobs
      WHERE id = $1 AND project_id = $2 AND team_id = $3
    `,
    [input.generationJobId, input.projectId, input.teamId]
  );
  if (!row) {
    throw new Error('generation_job_id must belong to project_id and team_id');
  }
  if (row.source_type !== input.sourceType || row.source_id !== input.sourceId) {
    throw new Error('generation_job_id source model must match observation source');
  }
  if (input.sourceType === 'agent_event' && row.agent_event_id !== input.agentEventId) {
    throw new Error('generation_job_id agent_event_id must match observation source');
  }
}

async function assertAgentEventOwnership(
  client: PostgresQueryable,
  agentEventId: string,
  projectId: string,
  teamId: string
): Promise<void> {
  const row = await queryOne<{ id: string }>(
    client,
    'SELECT id FROM agent_events WHERE id = $1 AND project_id = $2 AND team_id = $3',
    [agentEventId, projectId, teamId]
  );
  if (!row) {

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