# Troubleshooting

Operational diagnosis guide for common Narratio failures.

## Config file not found

Symptom:

- command fails to resolve `pipeline.yml`, `campaign.yml`, or `session.yml`.

Likely causes:

- missing files in default search paths;
- wrong campaign selection;
- omitted explicit flags.

Diagnostics:

```bash
narratio session plan 2026-04-04
```

Safe fix:

- pass explicit `--config`, `--campaign` or `--campaign-file`, and `--session`.

Relevant reference: [Configuration discovery](./config.md#discovery-and-selection).

## Session template placeholders rejected

Symptom:

- load error says session file must be concrete or contains `{{ ... }}` placeholders.

Likely cause:

- using template content as runtime session config.

Diagnostics:

```bash
narratio session validate 2026-04-04 --session /path/session.yml
```

Safe fix:

- generate concrete session YAML with `narratio session init`.

Relevant reference: [Operations: Session Initialization](./operations.md#session-initialization).

## Strict decode or schema validation failure

Symptom:

- unknown field / invalid value error during config load.

Likely cause:

- stale field name, typo, invalid enum, or invalid duration/path format.

Diagnostics:

```bash
narratio session plan 2026-04-04 --config /path/pipeline.yml --campaign-file /path/campaign.yml --session /path/session.yml
```

Safe fix:

- align config with [Configuration](./config.md) and the
  [maintained examples](../examples/README.md).

Relevant reference: [Configuration](./config.md).

## Unexpected imported or profile value

Symptom:

- an effective configuration value differs from the root file, or a duplicate
  ownership/configuration error is hard to locate.

Diagnostics:

```bash
narratio config sources --config /path/pipeline.yml --profile testing
```

Add `--campaign` or `--campaign-file` when the pipeline has party-driven
artifact families. The output identifies each effective logical field's root,
import, profile, default, campaign, party, or family source without printing
the field value or credential contents.

Safe fix:

- move a duplicated base field so it has one owner;
- correct the selected profile or its overlay; or
- correct the campaign party/family declaration that owns generated values.

Relevant reference: [Configuration inspection](./config.md#read-only-effective-pipeline-inspection).

## Audio mode conflict

Symptom:

- validation fails on session audio configuration.

Likely cause:

- configured both local and S3 session audio inputs.

Diagnostics:

```bash
narratio session validate 2026-04-04
```

Safe fix:

- use local mode (`audio_dir` or `audio_files`) or S3 mode (`audio_s3.prefix`), not both.

Relevant reference: [Session configuration](./config.md#session).

## `--artifacts` selection error

Symptom:

- unknown artifact key or invalid `--artifacts` usage.

Likely causes:

- key not defined in `pipeline.scriptorium.artifacts`;
- empty list entry (for example trailing comma);
- `run-stage` used with non-`analyze`/`publish` target.

Diagnostics:

```bash
narratio session artifacts 2026-04-04
```

Safe fix:

- provide only configured keys and use `--artifacts` with supported commands/stages.

Relevant reference: [CLI artifact selection](./cli.md).

## Bounded run prerequisite is unusable

Symptom:

- `run` or `session plan` reports that a prerequisite stage is absent or has a
  pending, running, failed, stale, or interrupted status before the selected
  start.

Likely cause:

- `--from` excludes upstream work that has not reached the terminal
  `succeeded` or `skipped` state in the session manifest.

Diagnostics:

```bash
narratio session status 2026-04-04
narratio session plan 2026-04-04 --from render --through analyze
```

Safe fix:

- widen the bounded range to include the first reported stage, or recover that
  stage explicitly with `run-stage` before retrying. The failed check does not
  create a run record or modify the manifest. Narratio does not resume-validate
  excluded prefix stages, and stages after `--through` are not prerequisites.

If prerequisite statuses are terminal but a selected stage reports a missing,
unsafe, or checksum-inconsistent artifact, repair the artifact at the stage
that owns it; do not edit the manifest to bypass the selected stage's concrete
input validation.

Relevant reference: [Operations: Stage Execution and Continuation Behavior](./operations.md#stage-execution-and-continuation-behavior).

## Notarius executable missing

Symptom:

- extraction fails while resolving or starting the Notarius executable.

Likely causes:

- `pipeline.notarius.binary` is not installed, executable, or on `PATH`;
- a configured executable path is wrong.

Safe fix:

- install a compatible Notarius release or correct the binary setting, then
  rerun extraction.

Relevant references: [Notarius configuration](./config.md#notarius-output-entries)
and [Notarius integration](./integrations/notarius.md).

## Notarius exits nonzero

Symptom:

- extraction reports a Notarius exit error instead of a receipt.

Diagnostics:

- inspect `runs/{run_id}/extract/notarius.stderr.log`; stdout is reserved for
  the receipt and is not merged with diagnostics.

Safe fix:

- correct the reported Notarius pipeline, input, provider, or configuration
  failure and rerun extraction. Do not edit a staged output bundle into place.

After a failed replacement, an older immutable bundle may still exist even
though the current session manifest has no successful extraction payload. This
is expected audit state, not a signal to relink the old bundle manually.

Relevant reference: [Operations: Extraction Workflow](./operations.md#extraction-workflow).

## Prepared Notarius reference missing or inconsistent

Symptom:

- extraction or resume validation reports that a configured reference source is
  unavailable, unsafe, empty, or checksum-inconsistent and recommends
  `prepare --force`.

Likely causes:

- `prepare` has not run since the campaign/session stable input changed;
- the configured source file is missing;
- a prepared `inputs/` file or its manifest record was modified independently;
- a spell-catalog binding exists without an effective `spell_catalog_file`.

Diagnostics:

```bash
narratio session status 2026-04-04
narratio session validate 2026-04-04
```

Safe fix:

- correct the campaign/session input path, then refresh canonical prepared
  evidence before extraction:

```bash
narratio run-stage prepare 2026-04-04 --force
```

Do not point Notarius directly at the original source path or edit the manifest
checksum. Relevant references: [Notarius reference configuration](./config.md#notarius-reference-bindings)
and [Operations: Extraction Workflow](./operations.md#extraction-workflow).

## Notarius reference selector or generated-handoff collision

Symptom:

- Notarius exits nonzero with an undeclared reference-slot, incompatible media,
  or external/generated reference collision error.

Likely causes:

- a selector does not identify a slot declared by the selected Notarius target;
- a prepared file does not satisfy that slot's Notarius media contract; or
- a CLI binding attempts to replace a same-run generated D&D handoff.

Safe fix:

- compare external bindings with the selected Notarius pipeline's canonical
  consumer documentation;
- keep only campaign-owned external slots on the CLI; and
- leave registry, scene, combat, and occurrence handoffs to Notarius pipeline
  composition.

Narratio validates selector structure and prepared evidence, while Notarius
owns slot declarations, media compatibility, and generated-handoff conflicts.
Relevant reference: [Notarius integration](./integrations/notarius.md).

## Atomic Notarius promotion unsupported

Symptom:

- extraction fails with `atomic no-replace directory promotion is unsupported`
  before a durable bundle or temporary promotion tree is created.

Likely cause:

- Narratio is running on an operating system other than Linux, macOS, or
  Windows, where the required atomic no-replace directory primitive has not
  been implemented and verified.

Safe fix:

- run extraction on Linux, macOS, or Windows. Do not replace the atomic commit
  with a manual copy or move; the session manifest must never observe a partial
  or overwritten bundle.

This is an extraction-specific platform boundary, not a support statement for
unrelated Narratio workflows. See
[Operations: Extraction Workflow](./operations.md#extraction-workflow).

## Notarius receipt or index incompatible

Symptom:

- extraction rejects the receipt schema, pipeline identity, bundle/index path,
  lane descriptor, or payload path even though Notarius exited successfully.

Likely causes:

- Narratio and Notarius versions disagree on their consumer contract;
- the configured pipeline or lane constraints are stale;
- output paths escape the bundle or traverse symlinks.

Safe fix:

- compare installed Notarius output with the canonical Notarius contracts,
  including receipt `index_file: index.json` and index management names
  `manifest.json`, `rejected.json`, `warnings.json`, and `diagnostics.json`; align
  `pipeline.notarius` constraints and rerun. Do not bypass confinement or schema
  checks.

Relevant reference: [Notarius integration](./integrations/notarius.md).

## Required Notarius lane rejected or missing

Symptom:

- extraction fails because a configured lane is rejected, missing, duplicated,
  or incompatible, including after a zero exit.

Safe fix:

- inspect the Notarius diagnostic log and bundle rejection/warning information;
- correct the Notarius module or the exact declared lane contract;
- remove an output declaration only if downstream consumers genuinely no longer
  require that source, then rerun extraction.

Every configured output is required. Narratio does not promote a partial result.

## Extraction resume invalidated

Symptom:

- a previously successful extraction runs again during ordinary continuation.

Likely causes:

- the executable/config path, pipeline ID, timeout, working directory, or
  configured output contracts changed;
- a configured prepared reference selector, source, path, checksum, or byte
  size changed;
- the durable bundle, index, lane set, provenance, regular-file status, or
  checksum no longer validates.

Safe fix:

- allow the automatic rerun after verifying the current configuration. Treat
  an unsafe path or symlink error as filesystem corruption or tampering and
  investigate it rather than replacing files manually.

## Notarius transitive configuration changed

Symptom:

- Notarius profiles, prompts, modules, imported files, or references changed,
  but Narratio still considers the previous extraction resumable.

Safe fix:

```bash
narratio run-stage extract 2026-04-04 --force
```

Narratio fingerprints its invocation contract and prepared Narratio reference
identities, not the contents of other transitive Notarius inputs. Always force
extraction after changing those external inputs; downstream
successful stages are then marked stale normally.

Relevant reference: [Operations: Extraction Workflow](./operations.md#extraction-workflow).

## Analysis artifact evidence is not current

Symptom:

- ordinary continuation or `session plan` schedules one or more configured
  artifacts even though a canonical output file exists; or
- publish reports a configured artifact source unavailable.

Likely causes:

- the per-artifact record is stale, missing, failed, unselected, malformed, or
  from the legacy aggregate-only manifest contract;
- a configured prompt/profile, dependency, input identity, output path, or
  effective variable changed; or
- the recorded output is missing, unsafe, empty, or has a size/checksum that no
  longer matches its manifest evidence.

Diagnostics:

```bash
narratio session status 2026-04-04
narratio session artifacts 2026-04-04
narratio session plan 2026-04-04 --from analyze --through analyze
```

Safe fix:

- investigate unexpected path or checksum changes as possible tampering;
- otherwise let the selected analyze work rerun, or explicitly regenerate only
  the affected targets; and
- never edit the fingerprint/checksum in the manifest or copy an old file into
  the canonical path as a substitute for current evidence.

```bash
narratio analyze 2026-04-04 --artifacts session_recap
```

Relevant references: [Operations: Artifact Selection](./operations.md#artifact-selection)
and [Artifact Internals](./internal/artifacts.md#resolution-rules).

## Legacy aggregate analysis requires regeneration

Symptom:

- a manifest from an older Narratio version reports aggregate analyze success
  and the old files are present, but configured artifact sources remain
  unavailable.

Likely cause:

- the manifest has no supported per-artifact analyze state. Aggregate output
  lists do not establish current configured-artifact authority.

Safe fix:

- regenerate the required artifacts. A partial selection makes only its
  targets and prerequisites eligible for current state; unselected legacy
  files intentionally remain unavailable. Run full analysis later when every
  enabled configured artifact must become current.

```bash
narratio analyze 2026-04-04 --artifacts session_recap
narratio analyze 2026-04-04
```

After current records exist, inspect them and publish explicitly. Do not delete
the legacy files merely to influence selection; availability is manifest-owned.

Relevant references: [Operations: Stage Execution and Continuation Behavior](./operations.md#stage-execution-and-continuation-behavior)
and [Manifest Internals](./internal/manifest.md#analyze-owned-artifact-state).

## Scriptorium private input changed without a rerun

Symptom:

- a prompt, profile, imported configuration file, executable, or other input
  loaded privately by Scriptorium changed, but Narratio still considers an
  artifact current.

Likely cause:

- analysis fingerprints cover Narratio-observable semantic identities, not
  executable contents or arbitrary files and transitive configuration that
  Scriptorium loads behind its configured paths and identifiers.

Safe fix:

- explicitly force the affected target after changing an unobserved private
  input. Force applies to explicit targets; current prerequisites remain
  reusable unless selected themselves.

```bash
narratio analyze 2026-04-04 --artifacts session_recap
```

Relevant reference: [Analyze Internals](./internal/stage-analyze.md#invariants).

## Previous-session artifact input missing

Symptom:

- prepare/analyze fails due to missing required previous-session artifact cache input.

Likely causes:

- missing `session.previous_session_id`;
- previous artifact not restored/published for source session.

Diagnostics:

```bash
narratio session validate 2026-04-04
narratio session status 2026-04-04
```

Safe fix:

```bash
narratio session restore 2026-04-04
```

or rerun prepare after correcting session config:

```bash
narratio run-stage prepare 2026-04-04 --force
```

Relevant reference: [Operations: Restore Workflow](./operations.md#restore-workflow).

## Session lock conflict (`.lock`)

Symptom:

- command fails acquiring session lock.

Likely causes:

- another process is running for the same session;
- a process still holds the operating-system lock while it is shutting down.

Diagnostics:

```bash
ls -l {workspace.root}/work/{campaign}/{session_id}/.lock
ps aux | grep narratio
```

Safe fix:

- wait for active process completion;
- retry after an interrupted holder has exited; the kernel releases its lock
  even though the `.lock` metadata file remains for inspection.

Relevant reference: [Operations: Local State Layout](./operations.md#local-state-layout).

## Restore conflict without `--force`

Symptom:

- restore fails with conflict count.

Likely cause:

- local durable files differ from remote restore sources.

Diagnostics:

```bash
narratio session restore 2026-04-04 --dry-run
```

Safe fix:

- review conflicts;
- rerun with `--force` only when remote state should overwrite local.

Relevant reference: [Operations: Restore Workflow](./operations.md#restore-workflow).

## Restore current-state discovery failure

Symptom:

- restore cannot find current pointer or current manifest.

Likely causes:

- no committed publish current state;
- storage credentials or connectivity failure.

Diagnostics:

```bash
narratio session status 2026-04-04
narratio session restore 2026-04-04 --dry-run
```

Safe fix:

- resolve storage/auth issue;
- republish from healthy local state if current pointer is missing.

Relevant reference: [Operations: Publish Workflow](./operations.md#publish-workflow).

## Publish output failure

Symptom:

- publish fails on missing required source, upload error, or commit write.

Likely causes:

- required source file not produced;
- lock/state expectations mismatch;
- remote storage failure.

Diagnostics:

```bash
narratio session artifacts 2026-04-04 --remote
narratio session status 2026-04-04
narratio run-stage publish 2026-04-04 --force
```

Safe fix:

- regenerate missing sources by rerunning prerequisite stages;
- correct publish source/destination rules;
- retry after storage failure is resolved.

Relevant reference: [Publish configuration](./config.md#publish-configuration-summary).

## Render markdown source missing

Symptom:

- analyze or publish fails because `narratio.transcript.final_markdown` or `narratio.transcript.final_trimmed_markdown` is unavailable.

Likely causes:

- render stage was not executed after transcript changes;
- render stage failed before producing canonical markdown outputs.

Diagnostics:

```bash
narratio session status 2026-04-04
```

Safe fix:

- rerun render and then retry downstream stage(s):

```bash
narratio run-stage render 2026-04-04 --force
narratio run-stage analyze 2026-04-04 --force
```

Relevant reference: [Operations: Stage Execution](./operations.md#stage-execution-and-continuation-behavior).

## Secrets or storage credential failure

Symptom:

- object-store command fails at initialization/auth.

Likely causes:

- invalid `pipeline.secrets.env_dir`;
- missing credential environment variables;
- invalid S3 endpoint/bucket settings.

Diagnostics:

```bash
ls -la /path/to/secrets_dir
env | sed 's/=.*//' | grep -E 'OBJECT_STORAGE|AWS|AUDITA|SCRIPTORIUM'
```

Safe fix:

- correct secret-file path and permissions;
- provide required env vars;
- keep secret values out of YAML.

Relevant reference: [Secrets](./config.md#secrets-handling).

## S3 audio prepare failure

Symptom:

- prepare fails listing/downloading session S3 audio.

Likely causes:

- incorrect `session.inputs.audio_s3.prefix`;
- no matching `.flac` objects;
- storage connectivity or permissions failure.

Diagnostics:

```bash
narratio session validate 2026-04-04
```

Safe fix:

- verify prefix contents and storage access;
- keep session audio mode consistent.

Relevant reference: [Operations](./operations.md).

## References

- [docs/cli.md](./cli.md)
- [docs/config.md](./config.md)
- [docs/operations.md](./operations.md)
- [docs/internal/stage-publish.md](./internal/stage-publish.md)