From 92a0d3a59a69a49d7797c302f42a2db2013761a2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Matt Van Horn <455140+mvanhorn@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:29:54 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] improve error message when av.db is corrupted

Wrap the database open error with a user-friendly message that names
the file path and suggests deleting the file and running 'av init'.
Previously a corrupted av.db would produce an unclear JSON parse
error without actionable guidance.

Closes #514

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 cmd/av/helpers.go | 9 ++++++++-
 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/cmd/av/helpers.go b/cmd/av/helpers.go
index e653e903..f71a6c5b 100644
--- a/cmd/av/helpers.go
+++ b/cmd/av/helpers.go
@@ -69,7 +69,14 @@ func getDB(ctx context.Context, repo *git.Repo) (meta.DB, error) {
 
 func getOrCreateDB(repo *git.Repo) (meta.DB, bool, error) {
 	dbPath := filepath.Join(repo.AvDir(), "av.db")
-	return jsonfiledb.OpenPath(dbPath)
+	db, exists, err := jsonfiledb.OpenPath(dbPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, false, errors.WrapIff(err,
+			"failed to open av database at %q (the file may be corrupted; try deleting it and running 'av init')",
+			dbPath,
+		)
+	}
+	return db, exists, nil
 }
 
 func allBranches(ctx context.Context) ([]string, error) {