vxcontrol/pentagi · error

failed to get task %d subtasks: %w

Error message

failed to get task %d subtasks: %w

What it means

RefineSubtasks first reloads the task's subtasks from the database via GetTaskSubtasks before asking the LLM provider for a refined plan. This error wraps any failure of that read, binding the task ID to the underlying store error. It is a pre-condition failure: refinement never starts because the current subtask state could not be loaded.

Source

Thrown at backend/pkg/controller/subtasks.go:100

	for _, info := range plan {
		_, err := stc.taskCtx.DB.CreateSubtask(ctx, database.CreateSubtaskParams{
			Status:      database.SubtaskStatusCreated,
			TaskID:      stc.taskCtx.TaskID,
			Title:       info.Title,
			Description: info.Description,
		})
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to create subtask for task %d: %w", stc.taskCtx.TaskID, err)
		}
	}

	return nil
}

func (stc *subtaskController) RefineSubtasks(ctx context.Context) error {
	subtasks, err := stc.taskCtx.DB.GetTaskSubtasks(ctx, stc.taskCtx.TaskID)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get task %d subtasks: %w", stc.taskCtx.TaskID, err)
	}

	plan, err := stc.taskCtx.Provider.RefineSubtasks(ctx, stc.taskCtx.TaskID)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to refine subtasks for task %d: %w", stc.taskCtx.TaskID, err)
	}

	if len(plan) == 0 {
		return nil // no subtasks refined
	}

	subtaskIDs := make([]int64, 0, len(subtasks))
	for _, subtask := range subtasks {
		if subtask.Status == database.SubtaskStatusCreated {
			subtaskIDs = append(subtaskIDs, subtask.ID)
		}
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to ea665308ba)

Solutions

1. Check backend logs for the wrapped cause (%w) — usually a pq/GORM connection error
2. Verify PostgreSQL is reachable and the DB pool is not exhausted
3. Confirm migrations ran (goose up) so the subtasks table matches SQLC queries
4. Retry RefineSubtasks once the DB connection is restored; the operation is safe to re-run

Example fix

// before
subtasks, err := stc.taskCtx.DB.GetTaskSubtasks(ctx, stc.taskCtx.TaskID)
if err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("failed to get task %d subtasks: %w", stc.taskCtx.TaskID, err)
}
// after
ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 10*time.Second)
defer cancel()
subtasks, err := stc.taskCtx.DB.GetTaskSubtasks(ctx, stc.taskCtx.TaskID)
if err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("failed to get task %d subtasks: %w", stc.taskCtx.TaskID, err)
}

if stc.taskCtx.TaskID <= 0 { return fmt.Errorf("invalid task id") }
if err := db.PingContext(ctx); err != nil { return fmt.Errorf("db unavailable: %w", err) }

subtasks, err := stc.taskCtx.DB.GetTaskSubtasks(ctx, taskID)
if err != nil {
    if errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) { return err }
    return fmt.Errorf("failed to get task %d subtasks: %w", taskID, err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling RefineSubtasks when the database connection is down, the subtasks table is missing/corrupted, the query context is cancelled (e.g. client disconnect or timeout), or GetTaskSubtasks returns a row-scan error.

Common situations: Postgres restarted mid-flow; context deadline exceeded because the flow context was cancelled while the agent was running; migration drift after upgrading so SQLC query no longer matches schema.

Understand the failure class

Background: Database query failed: Internal Server Error 500s wrapping SQL, Prisma, and connection failures — what to check first — this error's family across 16 libraries.

Related errors

• token not found in database
• flow not found
• flow not found
• failed to create flow in DB: %w
• failed to get user %d: %w

AI-assisted analysis of vxcontrol/pentagi@ea665308ba (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/62197141d166979d. Report an issue: GitHub.