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v1.2.0 and v1.2.1 were published by accident on 2026-08-11, without release testing. v1.2.2 superseded them by re-releasing the tested 1.1 line — it is the v1.1.2 code under a higher version number, so every install channel (Homebrew, npm, the install script, go install) moves forward onto tested code. The 1.2.x-only features (work leases, the events journal, sync federation, the HTTP API server, provenance events) are not in v1.2.2; they will return in a properly tested release. The catch: running the v1.2.1 binary even once (any command, including bd list) migrated your local database schema from v53 to v65. The v1.2.2 binary speaks schema v53, so on such a database it stops with:
This guide fixes that. The v1.2.x schema changes are strictly additive — nothing the 1.1 line reads or writes was dropped, renamed, or narrowed — so recovery is a two-minute metadata fix, not a data migration.

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Am I affected?

Only if you both ran v1.2.1 at least once and see the schema-mismatch error above with v1.2.2 (or any 1.1.x binary). Users who upgraded but never ran bd, and users whose workspace has a Dolt remote configured (the remote-migrate gate blocked silent migration), are typically not affected. The v1.2.x migrations were written to be replay-safe after a cursor rollback, so this is reversible and a later, properly tested 1.2.x upgrade will work normally afterwards.
  1. Upgrade every machine and clone to v1.2.2 first. A leftover v1.2.1 binary that touches the database will silently re-migrate it.
  2. Stop anything using the database: close running bd processes; in server mode also run bd dolt stop.
  3. Take a backup copy of the workspace database:
  4. Roll the cursor back with the Dolt CLI (any recent dolt release works; no dolt config setup is needed — the command carries its own author). The database directory is .beads/embeddeddolt/<db> (embedded mode, the default) or .beads/dolt/<db> (server mode):
    (If this reports there is nothing to commit, the step was already done — safe to continue.)
  5. Run any bd command from the workspace. It should work with no warnings and no BD_IGNORE_SCHEMA_SKEW needed.
This also works for databases created by v1.2.1 (not just upgraded ones): the v65 schema is a superset of everything the 1.1 line needs. If you push/pull issue data with teammates, note that the migrated cursor replicates: either recover every clone, or recover one and push, then have the others pull.

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Optional: restore audit-event versioning

One v1.2.x migration moved the events audit table off Dolt’s versioned plane, and after the cursor rollback the 1.1 line keeps writing audit events without versioning or syncing them (everything else syncs normally). If you rely on the versioned audit trail, re-track the table from the same database directory:

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Stopgap: keep working before you recover

If you need bd this minute, the skew guard has an escape hatch:
This has been verified against the exact v53-binary/v65-database combination: reads are identical and writes work, because the v1.2.x schema additions are invisible to the 1.1 line. Audit-event versioning is paused (see above) until you do the cursor rollback, so treat this as a stopgap, not a destination.

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What recovery leaves behind

Data the accidental release wrote into 1.2.x-only structures stays in the database but is unused by the 1.1 line: work-lease state (ephemeral, 5-minute horizon), events-journal rows (feature was off by default), provenance rows (only written by an explicit new command), and storage_class markers. None of it blocks a future 1.2.x upgrade, which will simply resume using it.

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Alternative: full rollback via Dolt history

If you want the database history itself restored to its pre-migration state (the cursor rollback keeps the migration commits in history), the v1.2.1 migrator made one labeled Dolt commit per migration (schema: apply migration 0054_... through 0065_...), so the pre-migration commit is easy to find. The safe sequence is: export with the v1.2.1 binary (bd export --all -o backup.jsonl), stop everything and copy .beads aside, dolt reset --hard <pre-migration-commit> in the database directory, install v1.2.2, then bd import backup.jsonl. Caveats: issues deleted after the upgrade come back (import cannot re-delete), and audit events recorded while on v1.2.1 are lost. Most users should prefer the cursor rollback above.