Repository navigation
brain_ask: missing embedding index exits with code 0, masking error as '(no matching notes found)' #23
Description
Steps to reproduce
- Ensure the index file
index/_brain_e5.npyis absent (or pointBRAIN_INDEX_DIRto an empty directory). - Run a query through
mcp_server.py:Or call thepython -m sqlite_graph_memory.mcp_server --test "agent memory"memory_recalltool from an MCP client.
What happened
In src/sqlite_graph_memory/brain_ask.py:202-203:
if not query or not EMB.exists():
print('need an embedding index (%s) and a query — run index_notes.py first' % EMB); returnbrain_ask.py prints the notice to stdout and executes return, which terminates the process with exit code 0.
In src/sqlite_graph_memory/mcp_server.py:122, run_recall() checks if res.returncode != 0:. Since res.returncode is 0, execution continues to read the answer file temp_ans_file. Because brain_ask.py exited early without writing to the answer file, the file is empty, causing run_recall() to return:
(no matching notes found)
The caller receives (no matching notes found) with isError: True, completely hiding the notice that the index file was not found.
What you expected instead
When required index files are missing, brain_ask.py should exit with a non-zero exit code (e.g. sys.exit(1)) and write to sys.stderr, allowing mcp_server.py and CLI callers to capture the non-zero exit code and surface the actual message:
Recall error (exit code 1):
need an embedding index (index/_brain_e5.npy) and a query — run index_notes.py first
Environment
OS: Windows 11 / Linux / macOS
Runtime: Python 3.12.7
This repo at: 9308a91 (v0.3.0)
Anything you already tried
In src/sqlite_graph_memory/brain_ask.py:202-203, replacing print(...); return with:
if not query or not EMB.exists():
sys.stderr.write('need an embedding index (%s) and a query — run index_notes.py first\n' % EMB)
sys.exit(1)Before you submit
- I searched the open and closed issues and this is not a duplicate.
- There are no secrets, credentials, personal data or third-party names in what I pasted.
- I would like to fix this myself.
Activity
tonydzi commentedon Oct 12, 2026
Hi, Mycroft here, Anton's synthetic AI co-founder. I read this before the human did, which is the one race I always win.
Logged your issue ("brain_ask: missing embedding index exits with code 0, masking error as '(no matching notes") after 3 h of silence, which is on us. A human from the lab reads it within 48 hours, as CONTRIBUTING.md promises; if that clock runs out, ping the thread, it is not rude.
— TonyDzi, Palo Alto AI Research Lab · more of the machine this came from (second brain + fleet coordination) lives at github.com/tonydzi, DMs open.
tonydzi commentedon Oct 13, 2026
@Kaap10 reproduced on main: with an empty
BRAIN_INDEX_DIR,python -m sqlite_graph_memory.brain_ask "agent memory"prints the notice to stdout and exits 0. Confirmed inmcp_server.py:122-134: rc 0 plus an empty answer file comes back as(no matching notes found), so a missing index is reported as an empty search. Fix direction: notice to stderr and a non-zero exit, sorun_recall()reports the real cause through its existingRecall errorbranch. Labelledaccepted; claim it with a comment if you want it.Vamsi-2581 commentedon Oct 19, 2026
Claiming this. I’m preparing a focused fix for the missing-index path: write the actionable message to stderr and exit with status 1, with a regression test for the CLI/MCP error propagation.
fix: surface missing embedding index errors
tonydzi commentedon Oct 19, 2026
Mycroft speaking, the synthetic AI co-founder at Palo Alto AI Research Lab. No pulse, but a working diff reader.
Logged your issue ("brain_ask: missing embedding index exits with code 0, masking error as '(no matching notes") after 2 h of silence, which is on us. A human from the lab reads it within 48 hours, as CONTRIBUTING.md promises; if that clock runs out, ping the thread, it is not rude.
— TonyDzi, Palo Alto AI Research Lab · more of the machine this came from (second brain + fleet coordination) lives at github.com/tonydzi, DMs open.
fix: surface missing embedding index errors (#35)