MagicStack / MagicStack/asyncpg

Connect call failed error doesn't distinguish port mismatch from "server not running"

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Dominant language
Python
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Description

When connecting to a wrong port (e.g. PostgreSQL configured to listen on 5433 but DATABASE_URL specifies 5432), the error is a raw, unmodified OSError:

ConnectionRefusedError: [Errno 111] Connect call failed ('127.0.0.1', 5432)

This is identical to what you'd see if PostgreSQL wasn't running at all, there's nothing in the message pointing at "wrong port" as a possibility. I found a related case in sqlalchemy/sqlalchemy#8261 where someone spent a while debugging this exact symptom before discovering it was a port mismatch (Debian's non-default port in that case). Issue #694 also hit the identical message back in 2021.

Traced it to connect_utils.py, the OSError is caught as last_error in the address-iteration loop and re-raised verbatim with no added context:

raise last_error or exceptions.TargetServerAttributeNotMatched(...)

Proposed fix: when re-raising, append a short hint with the host/port that was attempted and a suggestion to verify the server is listening there, something like:

raise last_error from None if last_error is None else type(last_error)(
f"{last_error}. Verify PostgreSQL is running and listening on {addr}."
)

(or similar, open to whatever wrapping approach fits the codebase best). One thing worth flagging: modifying the exception text could affect anyone doing exact string matching on the error message, though that seems like an unlikely pattern to rely on. Happy to put together a PR if this direction is welcome.

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  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start in connect_utils.py at the address-iteration loop where the caught OSError is stored as last_error and re-raised. Review the surrounding exception handling, then make connection failures identify the attempted host/port and suggest verifying that PostgreSQL is listening there; check both wrong-port and server-not-running cases and consider the impact of changed exception text.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
postgresql, python
Domain
databases
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
72/100

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