thedotmack/claude-mem · error · Error

observation_reindex source_id must belong to project_id and…

Error message

observation_reindex source_id must belong to project_id and team_id

What it means

For sourceType 'observation_reindex', validateSource requires an observation row to exist with the given id under the job's project_id and team_id; otherwise the create is rejected. This ensures reindex jobs only target observations in the caller's scope.

Solutions

  1. Verify the observation exists with a scoped SELECT (id, project_id, team_id) before creating the job
  2. Use the correct observation id (not a memory or event id) from the same project/team
  3. If the observation was deleted, restore it or skip the reindex job
  4. Check tenant context: projectId/teamId must be the ones the observation was created under

Example fix

// before
await jobs.create({ sourceType: 'observation_reindex', sourceId: obsId, projectId, teamId });
// after
const obs = await client.query('SELECT 1 FROM observations WHERE id=$1 AND project_id=$2 AND team_id=$3', [obsId, projectId, teamId]);
if (obs.rowCount === 0) throw new Error('observation not in scope');
await jobs.create({ sourceType: 'observation_reindex', sourceId: obsId, projectId, teamId });
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const obs = await client.query('SELECT 1 FROM observations WHERE id=$1 AND project_id=$2 AND team_id=$3', [sourceId, projectId, teamId]);
if (obs.rowCount === 0) throw new Error('observation not found in scope');

Try / catch

try {
  await jobs.create(input);
} catch (err) {
  if (err instanceof Error && err.message.includes('observation_reindex source_id must belong')) {
    throw new ScopeError('Observation missing or out of tenant scope');
  }
  throw err;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: create() with sourceType 'observation_reindex' where no observation matches the sourceId/projectId/teamId combination (id does not exist, or belongs to another project/team).

Common situations: Reindexing after a data deletion removed the observation; referencing an observation id from another tenant; using a memory/summary id instead of an observation id; id passed with different casing/format.

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 thedotmack/claude-mem@d8bc9755e7 (2026-09-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4528765b56feaf0b. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/storage/postgres/generation-jobs.ts:296

      return;
    }

    if (input.sourceType === 'session_summary') {
      const sessionId = input.serverSessionId ?? input.sourceId;
      await assertSessionOwnership(this.client, sessionId, input.projectId, input.teamId);
      if (input.sourceId !== sessionId) {
        throw new Error('session_summary source_id must equal server_session_id');
      }
      return;
    }

    const observation = await queryOne<{ id: string }>(
      this.client,
      'SELECT id FROM observations WHERE id = $1 AND project_id = $2 AND team_id = $3',
      [input.sourceId, input.projectId, input.teamId]
    );
    if (!observation) {
      throw new Error('observation_reindex source_id must belong to project_id and team_id');
    }
    if (input.serverSessionId) {
      await assertSessionOwnership(this.client, input.serverSessionId, input.projectId, input.teamId);
    }
  }
}

export class PostgresObservationGenerationJobEventsRepository {
  constructor(private client: PostgresQueryable) {}

  async append(input: {
    id?: string;
    generationJobId: string;
    projectId: string;
    teamId: string;
    eventType: ObservationGenerationJobEventType;
    statusAfter: ObservationGenerationJobStatus;
    attempt?: number;

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