Woods Diagnosis Workflow

Work through these steps in order. Most problems are caught by Step 1 or Step 2.

Step 1: Verify Rails Boots

Woods requires a booted Rails environment. If Rails can't boot, extraction produces no output.

bash

bundle exec rails runner 'puts Rails.version'

Docker variant:

bash

docker compose exec app bundle exec rails runner 'puts Rails.version'

If this fails: Fix the Rails boot error before continuing. Common causes: missing environment variables, database not running, syntax error in an initializer.

Check for NameError during eager loading — this is a frequent cause of partial extractions:

bash

bundle exec rails runner 'Rails.application.eager_load!; puts "OK"' 2>&1 | head -40

If you see NameError mentioning a graphql or other gem, that directory is failing to load. Add it to config.eager_load_paths exclusions or install the missing gem.

Step 2: Check Extraction Output

bash

ls -la tmp/woods/
cat tmp/woods/manifest.json

If manifest.json is missing: Extraction never completed. Run it and watch for errors:

bash

bundle exec rake woods:extract 2>&1 | tee /tmp/extraction.log

Look for ExtractionError or NameError lines in the output.

If total_units is 0 or very low: Rails booted but eager loading failed to load your models. See Models missing from extraction below.

If counts look right: Continue to Step 3.

Validate index integrity:

bash

bundle exec rake woods:validate

Step 3: Test MCP Server

Test the Index Server directly:

bash

echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/list","params":{}}' | woods-mcp-start ./tmp/woods

Expected: A JSON response with a tools array containing 27+ entries.

If you get "manifest.json not found": The path is wrong. Check that ./tmp/woods/manifest.json exists and that you're running from the Rails app root.

If you get no response at all: The binary may not be in your PATH. Try:

bash

which woods-mcp-start
# If missing:
gem install woods
# or if using Bundler:
bundle exec woods-mcp-start ./tmp/woods

Test the Console Server:

bash

echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/list","params":{}}' | bundle exec rake woods:console

Expected: JSON tool list, then the process hangs (waiting for more input). Press Ctrl+C.

If it exits immediately: Run without piped input to see the error:

bash

bundle exec rake woods:console

Step 4: Check Embeddings (if configured)

If codebase_retrieve returns "Embedding provider is not available":

bash

bundle exec rails runner '
  config = Woods.configuration
  puts "Provider: #{config.embedding_provider.inspect}"
  puts "Model: #{config.embedding_model.inspect}"
  puts "Vector store: #{config.vector_store.inspect}"
'

OpenAI: Verify OPENAI_API_KEY is set and the model name is valid (text-embedding-3-small is the default).

Ollama: Verify Ollama is running: curl http://localhost:11434/api/tags

Dimension mismatch: If you switched embedding models after initial indexing, you need a full re-index:

bash

bundle exec rake woods:extract   # re-extract to reset unit files
bundle exec rake woods:embed     # re-embed all units

IndexValidator will detect dimension mismatches and log an error on startup.

Decision Tree

Extraction empty → check eager_load

total_units == 0?
  ├─ rails runner 'puts Rails.version' fails?
  │   └─ Fix Rails boot error first
  └─ boots OK?
      ├─ rails runner 'Rails.application.eager_load!; puts "OK"' raises NameError?
      │   └─ A directory is failing to load — check app/graphql/, app/admin/, etc.
      └─ eager_load OK but models still missing?
          └─ Check that models inherit ActiveRecord::Base and table exists

MCP server: no tools visible

tools/list returns empty or error?
  ├─ Index Server path wrong?
  │   └─ Verify manifest.json exists at the path provided
  ├─ Binary not found?
  │   └─ gem install woods or use bundle exec
  └─ Console Server exits immediately?
      └─ Run without pipe to see error; check Rails boot + cwd setting

Console shows only 9 tools (Tier 1 only)

This is expected behavior for embedded mode (rake task / Docker). Tier 2–4 tools (console_diagnose_model, console_eval, console_sql, etc.) require bridge mode.

To get all 31 tools, switch to Option D (SSH/bridge) from CONSOLE_MCP_SETUP.md.

MCP client shows "connection refused" on HTTP transport

console_mcp_enabled set to true?
  ├─ No → Add to initializer and restart Rails
  └─ Yes → Is Rails running?
      ├─ No → Start the server
      └─ Yes → curl http://localhost:3000/mcp/console
               200 or 405 = middleware mounted ✓
               404 = path mismatch — check console_mcp_path config

Slow response times / timeouts

Default statement timeout is 5000ms. For large tables, narrow the query with scope:

json

{ "model": "Order", "scope": { "status": "pending" } }

If pipeline_extract or pipeline_embed are rate-limited, wait 5 minutes (the cooldown period) or use pipeline_repair with action: "reset_cooldowns".