I’ve a topic in our database with an category_id which category someone has deleted. I can open this topic directly with it’s id: url: …/t/3 in table topics the id = 3 has category = 4. But this category is deleted and not in table categories. Many of this lost topics I could delete. But this one …

[image] JammyDodger: How was this category deleted in the first place? Good question. It was done some years ago by an other admin. Meanwhile I deleted this topic direct in rails console with: result = ActiveRecord::Base.lease_connection.exec_delete('DELETE FROM topics WHERE id = 3') After…

cause this category isn’t more available, but which is more important: link to all categories in sidebar doesn’t work anymore. If I try open …/categories I get errormessage: “Error Something went wrong.” and in browser console errormessage is shown: Uncaught TypeError: i is null reason binary.…

It sounds like someone deleted the category when it has topics in it somehow? That’s not supposed to happen. I think you’ll need to do something like rails c c=Category.last; # or some other way to get a category) Topic.where(category_id: 4).update_all(category_id: c.id)

If your General category was deleted safely through the UI then it’s expected that the About topic would be soft deleted like you’re seeing. It shouldn’t cause any issues. :thinking: I think there may be something else at play. Is there any more detail about that error in your /logs page?

[image] pfaffman: Topic.where(category_id: 4).update_all(category_id: c.id) This seems not to work: discourse(prod)> Topic.where(category_id: 4).update_all(category_id: 20) => 0 discourse(prod)> Topic.where(id: 3).update_all(category_id: 20) => 0 And in Data Explorer I get: Select id, clo…

Hmm. I thought your broken topic had category_id of 4. [image] steinjer: in table topics the id = 3 has category = 4. That was my best guess. If you have a budget you might ask for help in Marketplace . I think you’ll need someone to get into rails to see if they can figure it out.

Marketplace is always an option, especially if it’s urgent. :heart: Though a bit more detail here might help jimmy up a community response. :crossed_fingers: You both seem confident that the root cause is this topic. If data explorer can find it then you should be able to find it in the rails cons…

yes, in ruby console I can see that topic: result = ActiveRecord::Base.lease_connection.exec_query('SELECT id, category_id FROM topics WHERE id = 3') result.rows => [[3, 4]] but in Topic is nothing Topic.where(id: 3) => []

[image] JammyDodger: If you can find it then you should be able to use post_destroyer on it and delete it from there? as you can see, finding is possible. But I have no idea of the Ruby syntax to delete exactly this one table entry.

Hmm. :thinking: It is unusual to be able to find it one way and not the other. The rails console can be a bit of a sharp knife so it’d be best to figure out what exactly has gone wrong just to minimise any accidents/knock on effects. How was this category deleted in the first place? (Just in case…

Can't delete topic without category

Product Support

JammyDodger May 27, 2025, 7:03pm 2

I think that’s the About topic for the General category?. Normally the about topics would be undeletable in the UI.

Is there a reason you want to delete this one completely?

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Can't delete topic without category

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