Summary

Upgrading from gbrain 0.22.0 (commit 172b55b, source-linked install via bun link) to 0.27.0 (commit ee9ceb3, master HEAD as of 2026-05-06): gbrain init --migrate-only crashes with column "provider_id" does not exist after the bootstrap probe announces "Pre-v0.21 brain detected" — even though gbrain doctor confirmed schema_version 29 (latest 29) before the upgrade.

This looks like the same wedge-cycle class addressed by v0.22.6.1, but the bootstrap probe is mis-classifying a modern brain (schema v29) and applying pre-v0.21 forward-references that crash on the new v0.27 provider_id column.

Likely related: #615 (agent_name on schema v24 → v34), #609 (mcp_request_log columns on PGLite v0.26.6).

Environment

• gbrain (pre-upgrade): 0.22.0 source @ commit 172b55b — binary self-reported 0.21.0 due to the package.json version-bump bug fixed in 0.27.0
• gbrain (target): 0.27.0 (commit ee9ceb3)
• Install method: local clone at ~/gbrain/ linked via bun link (~/.bun/install/global/node_modules/gbrain → ~/gbrain, bin → src/cli.ts)
• Engine: PGLite
• Pre-upgrade: 1788 pages, schema_version 29 (latest 29 at v0.22.0)
• Target schema_version per apply-migrations output: 36
• Bun: 1.3.13
• OS: macOS Darwin 25.1.0

Pre-upgrade state (doctor --json, key fields only)

{
  "schema_version": 2,
  "status": "warnings",
  "health_score": 70,
  "checks": [
    {"name": "connection", "status": "ok", "message": "Connected, 1788 pages"},
    {"name": "schema_version", "status": "ok", "message": "Version 29 (latest: 29)"},
    {"name": "embeddings", "status": "ok", "message": "100% coverage, 1 missing"},
    {"name": "rls", "status": "ok", "message": "Skipped (PGLite — no PostgREST exposure, RLS not applicable)"}
  ]
}

The schema_version check explicitly reports "Version 29 (latest: 29)" — not pre-v0.21.

Repro

# Starting state: gbrain at SHA 172b55b (v0.22.0), brain at schema v29
gbrain doctor --json | jq '.checks[] | select(.name=="schema_version")'
# => {"name":"schema_version","status":"ok","message":"Version 29 (latest: 29)"}

cd ~/gbrain
git pull origin master         # → ee9ceb3 (v0.27.0)
bun install                    # (postinstall hits chmod issue, see Note)
chmod +x src/cli.ts            # restore exec bit on bin symlink target

gbrain --version               # gbrain 0.27.0
gbrain apply-migrations --yes
# Applies "v0.22.4 frontmatter-guard adoption", then prints:
#   ⚠️  Schema version 29 is behind latest 36.
#   To run them now: gbrain init --migrate-only

gbrain init --migrate-only

Output

  Pre-v0.21 brain detected, applying forward-reference bootstrap
column "provider_id" does not exist

(exit code 1)

Expected

Per the v0.22.6.1 release notes ("No-op on fresh installs and modern brains"), the bootstrap probe should detect schema v29 and skip the pre-v0.21 forward-references, then run the v29 → v36 migration chain.

Actual

Bootstrap mis-classifies a confirmed schema-v29 brain as pre-v0.21 and crashes on what appears to be a v0.27-introduced column (provider_id, presumably from the new AI gateway architecture).

Resolution on our end

Rolled back successfully:

1. mv ~/.gbrain ~/.gbrain.failed-migration-<date> && mv ~/.gbrain.bak.<date> ~/.gbrain
2. cd ~/gbrain && git reset --hard 172b55b && chmod +x src/cli.ts && bun install
3. Brain back at 1788 pages / schema v29 / v0.22.0 binary, fully operational.

The half-migrated brain is preserved locally for diagnostics. It contains personal content so I can't attach it directly, but happy to provide a scrubbed PGLite dump or specific table snapshots (pages, links, migrations ledger, etc.) if that would help narrow this down.

Note: postinstall hook permission failure (probably orthogonal)

After bun install, the postinstall hook (gbrain apply-migrations --yes --non-interactive) hit Permission denied on ~/.bun/bin/gbrain. Root cause: src/cli.ts is committed at mode 100644 upstream but needs 100755 for the bin symlink to execute. A previous postinstall had chmod +x'd it locally; resetting the working tree reverted that. Manual chmod +x src/cli.ts is a workaround. May be worth committing the file at 100755 upstream so the symlink is executable on first install.