Fix dev startup with embedded postgres reuse

packages/db/package.json

@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "@paperclipai/shared": "workspace:*",
     "drizzle-orm": "^0.38.4",
+    "embedded-postgres": "^18.1.0-beta.16",
     "postgres": "^3.4.5"
   },
   "devDependencies": {

packages/db/src/migration-runtime.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 import { existsSync, readFileSync, rmSync } from "node:fs";
-import { createRequire } from "node:module";
 import path from "node:path";
-import { fileURLToPath, pathToFileURL } from "node:url";
 import { ensurePostgresDatabase } from "./client.js";
 import { resolveDatabaseTarget } from "./runtime-config.js";
 
@@ -52,17 +50,8 @@ function readPidFilePort(postmasterPidFile: string): number | null {
 }
 
 async function loadEmbeddedPostgresCtor(): Promise<EmbeddedPostgresCtor> {
-  const require = createRequire(import.meta.url);
-  const resolveCandidates = [
-    path.resolve(fileURLToPath(new URL("../..", import.meta.url))),
-    path.resolve(fileURLToPath(new URL("../../server", import.meta.url))),
-    path.resolve(fileURLToPath(new URL("../../cli", import.meta.url))),
-    process.cwd(),
-  ];
-
   try {
-    const resolvedModulePath = require.resolve("embedded-postgres", { paths: resolveCandidates });
+    const mod = await import("embedded-postgres");
-    const mod = await import(pathToFileURL(resolvedModulePath).href);
     return mod.default as EmbeddedPostgresCtor;
   } catch {
     throw new Error(
@@ -79,6 +68,20 @@ async function ensureEmbeddedPostgresConnection(
   const postmasterPidFile = path.resolve(dataDir, "postmaster.pid");
   const runningPid = readRunningPostmasterPid(postmasterPidFile);
   const runningPort = readPidFilePort(postmasterPidFile);
+  const preferredAdminConnectionString = `postgres://paperclip:paperclip@127.0.0.1:${preferredPort}/postgres`;
+
+  if (!runningPid) {
+    try {
+      await ensurePostgresDatabase(preferredAdminConnectionString, "paperclip");
+      return {
+        connectionString: `postgres://paperclip:paperclip@127.0.0.1:${preferredPort}/paperclip`,
+        source: `embedded-postgres@${preferredPort}`,
+        stop: async () => {},
+      };
+    } catch {
+      // Fall through and attempt to start the configured embedded cluster.
+    }
+  }
 
   if (runningPid) {
     const port = runningPort ?? preferredPort;
@@ -108,10 +111,15 @@ async function ensureEmbeddedPostgresConnection(
   if (existsSync(postmasterPidFile)) {
     rmSync(postmasterPidFile, { force: true });
   }
-  await instance.start();
+  try {
+    await instance.start();
+  } catch (error) {
+    throw new Error(
+      `Failed to start embedded PostgreSQL at ${dataDir} on port ${preferredPort}: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)}`,
+    );
+  }
 
-  const adminConnectionString = `postgres://paperclip:paperclip@127.0.0.1:${preferredPort}/postgres`;
+  await ensurePostgresDatabase(preferredAdminConnectionString, "paperclip");
-  await ensurePostgresDatabase(adminConnectionString, "paperclip");
 
   return {
     connectionString: `postgres://paperclip:paperclip@127.0.0.1:${preferredPort}/paperclip`,

pnpm-lock.yaml

@@ -226,6 +226,9 @@ importers:
       drizzle-orm:
         specifier: ^0.38.4
         version: 0.38.4(@electric-sql/pglite@0.3.15)(@types/react@19.2.14)(kysely@0.28.11)(pg@8.18.0)(postgres@3.4.8)(react@19.2.4)
+      embedded-postgres:
+        specifier: ^18.1.0-beta.16
+        version: 18.1.0-beta.16
       postgres:
         specifier: ^3.4.5
         version: 3.4.8

server/src/index.ts

@@ -323,45 +323,53 @@ export async function startServer(): Promise<StartedServer> {
     if (runningPid) {
       logger.warn(`Embedded PostgreSQL already running; reusing existing process (pid=${runningPid}, port=${port})`);
     } else {
-      const detectedPort = await detectPort(configuredPort);
+      const configuredAdminConnectionString = `postgres://paperclip:paperclip@127.0.0.1:${configuredPort}/postgres`;
-      if (detectedPort !== configuredPort) {
+      try {
-        logger.warn(`Embedded PostgreSQL port is in use; using next free port (requestedPort=${configuredPort}, selectedPort=${detectedPort})`);
+        await ensurePostgresDatabase(configuredAdminConnectionString, "paperclip");
-      }
+        logger.warn(
-      port = detectedPort;
+          `Embedded PostgreSQL appears to already be reachable without a pid file; reusing existing server on configured port ${configuredPort}`,
-      logger.info(`Using embedded PostgreSQL because no DATABASE_URL set (dataDir=${dataDir}, port=${port})`);
+        );
-      embeddedPostgres = new EmbeddedPostgres({
+      } catch {
-        databaseDir: dataDir,
+        const detectedPort = await detectPort(configuredPort);
-        user: "paperclip",
+        if (detectedPort !== configuredPort) {
-        password: "paperclip",
+          logger.warn(`Embedded PostgreSQL port is in use; using next free port (requestedPort=${configuredPort}, selectedPort=${detectedPort})`);
-        port,
+        }
-        persistent: true,
+        port = detectedPort;
-        initdbFlags: ["--encoding=UTF8", "--locale=C"],
+        logger.info(`Using embedded PostgreSQL because no DATABASE_URL set (dataDir=${dataDir}, port=${port})`);
-        onLog: appendEmbeddedPostgresLog,
+        embeddedPostgres = new EmbeddedPostgres({
-        onError: appendEmbeddedPostgresLog,
+          databaseDir: dataDir,
-      });
+          user: "paperclip",
-  
+          password: "paperclip",
-      if (!clusterAlreadyInitialized) {
+          port,
+          persistent: true,
+          initdbFlags: ["--encoding=UTF8", "--locale=C"],
+          onLog: appendEmbeddedPostgresLog,
+          onError: appendEmbeddedPostgresLog,
+        });
+
+        if (!clusterAlreadyInitialized) {
+          try {
+            await embeddedPostgres.initialise();
+          } catch (err) {
+            logEmbeddedPostgresFailure("initialise", err);
+            throw err;
+          }
+        } else {
+          logger.info(`Embedded PostgreSQL cluster already exists (${clusterVersionFile}); skipping init`);
+        }
+
+        if (existsSync(postmasterPidFile)) {
+          logger.warn("Removing stale embedded PostgreSQL lock file");
+          rmSync(postmasterPidFile, { force: true });
+        }
         try {
-          await embeddedPostgres.initialise();
+          await embeddedPostgres.start();
         } catch (err) {
-          logEmbeddedPostgresFailure("initialise", err);
+          logEmbeddedPostgresFailure("start", err);
           throw err;
         }
-      } else {
+        embeddedPostgresStartedByThisProcess = true;
-        logger.info(`Embedded PostgreSQL cluster already exists (${clusterVersionFile}); skipping init`);
       }
-  
-      if (existsSync(postmasterPidFile)) {
-        logger.warn("Removing stale embedded PostgreSQL lock file");
-        rmSync(postmasterPidFile, { force: true });
-      }
-      try {
-        await embeddedPostgres.start();
-      } catch (err) {
-        logEmbeddedPostgresFailure("start", err);
-        throw err;
-      }
-      embeddedPostgresStartedByThisProcess = true;
     }
   
     const embeddedAdminConnectionString = `postgres://paperclip:paperclip@127.0.0.1:${port}/postgres`;