# Error when opening ROAM\_REFS cite link

**URL:** <https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/error-when-opening-roam-refs-cite-link/1851>\
**Category:** Troubleshooting\
**Created:** [July 29, 2021, 6:48am UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/error-when-opening-roam-refs-cite-link/1851 "2021-07-29T06:48:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rainshoots](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8e8cbc/32.png) [@rainshoots](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/rainshoots)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 6:48am UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/error-when-opening-roam-refs-cite-link/1851/1 "2021-07-29T06:48:38Z")

</div>

I get an `Error (org-mode-hook): Error running hook "org-fancy-priorities-mode" because: (end-of-buffer)` when clicking on a org-ref `cite:` link after the `ROAM_REFS` header.

`cite:` links elsewhere in the `.org` document works as expected, opening up a menu to choose from.

Wonder what is the cause of the error?

# Debug Trace:

```lang-elisp
Debugger entered--Lisp error: (doom-hook-error org-fancy-priorities-mode (end-of-buffer))
  signal(doom-hook-error (org-fancy-priorities-mode (end-of-buffer)))
  (condition-case e (funcall hook) ((debug error) (signal 'doom-hook-error (list hook e))))
  doom-run-hook(org-fancy-priorities-mode)
  run-hook-wrapped(doom-run-hook org-fancy-priorities-mode)
  (condition-case e (run-hook-wrapped hook #'doom-run-hook) ((debug doom-hook-error) (if debug-on-error nil (lwarn hook :error "Error running hook %S because: %s" (if (symbolp (car (cdr e))) (symbol-name (car (cdr e))) (car (cdr e))) (car (cdr (cdr e))))) (signal 'doom-hook-error (cons hook (cdr e)))))
  (let ((hook (car --dolist-tail--))) (condition-case e (run-hook-wrapped hook #'doom-run-hook) ((debug doom-hook-error) (if debug-on-error nil (lwarn hook :error "Error running hook %S because: %s" (if (symbolp (car ...)) (symbol-name (car ...)) (car (cdr e))) (car (cdr (cdr e))))) (signal 'doom-hook-error (cons hook (cdr e))))) (setq --dolist-tail-- (cdr --dolist-tail--)))
  (while --dolist-tail-- (let ((hook (car --dolist-tail--))) (condition-case e (run-hook-wrapped hook #'doom-run-hook) ((debug doom-hook-error) (if debug-on-error nil (lwarn hook :error "Error running hook %S because: %s" (if (symbolp ...) (symbol-name ...) (car ...)) (car (cdr ...)))) (signal 'doom-hook-error (cons hook (cdr e))))) (setq --dolist-tail-- (cdr --dolist-tail--))))
  (let ((--dolist-tail-- hooks)) (while --dolist-tail-- (let ((hook (car --dolist-tail--))) (condition-case e (run-hook-wrapped hook #'doom-run-hook) ((debug doom-hook-error) (if debug-on-error nil (lwarn hook :error "Error running hook %S because: %s" (if ... ... ...) (car ...))) (signal 'doom-hook-error (cons hook (cdr e))))) (setq --dolist-tail-- (cdr --dolist-tail--)))))
  doom-run-hooks(change-major-mode-after-body-hook text-mode-hook outline-mode-hook org-mode-hook)
  apply(doom-run-hooks (change-major-mode-after-body-hook text-mode-hook outline-mode-hook org-mode-hook))
  run-hooks(change-major-mode-after-body-hook text-mode-hook outline-mode-hook org-mode-hook)
  apply(run-hooks (change-major-mode-after-body-hook text-mode-hook outline-mode-hook org-mode-hook))
  run-mode-hooks(org-mode-hook)
  org-mode()
  org-link-open-from-string("cite:林素英_郭店服喪思想_2003")
  org-open-at-point-global()
  funcall-interactively(org-open-at-point-global)
  call-interactively(org-open-at-point-global)
  org-open-at-point()
  org-open-at-mouse((mouse-2 (#<window 16 on 林素英_郭店服喪思想_2003.org> 85 (436 . 68) 189552908 nil 85 (28 . 2) nil (7 . 14) (26 . 34))))
  funcall-interactively(org-open-at-mouse (mouse-2 (#<window 16 on 林素英_郭店服喪思想_2003.org> 85 (436 . 68) 189552908 nil 85 (28 . 2) nil (7 . 14) (26 . 34))))
  call-interactively(org-open-at-mouse nil nil)
  command-execute(org-open-at-mouse)

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mshevchuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@mshevchuk](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/mshevchuk)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 9:13am UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/error-when-opening-roam-refs-cite-link/1851/2 "2021-07-29T09:13:24Z")

</div>

The cause of the error is `org-fancy-priorities-mode`.

Below is a rough sketch of what happens when you try to open a link from a property drawer. It does not necessarily need to be a `cite:link`, just any link.

1. `org-open-at-point` parses the element at point and recognizes it’s within a `node-property` element
2. `org-open-at-point` does not open links contained within the `node-property` directly but delegates the task to `org-open-at-point-global`
3. `org-open-at-point-global` detects that the point is on a valid link and pushes the raw unparsed link string to `org-link-open-from-string` for further processing
4. `org-link-open-from-string` takes the string, inserts it into a temporary buffer and calls `org-mode` in that buffer.
5. When `org-mode` is called in the temporary buffer, various hook functions registered with `org-mode` are called. Among those functions is `org-fancy-priorities-mode`.
6. `org-fancy-priorities-mode` attempts to inject its functionality into `font-lock` and this is where the `end-of-buffer` error happens.

I didn’t investigate in detail of how the error is produced exactly. It is rather complicated. In general, it is related to the edge case that `org-mode` needs to be initialized in a temporary buffer and `org-fancy-priorities-mode` does not account for this edge case. This may be considered a bug in `org-fancy-priorities` package. It may also be considered a bug in Org-mode that leads to such situations in the first place. Org-fancy-priorities is not the only package that suffers from it.

Why doesn’t this happen when you open a link from anywhere else? This is a rough sketch of what happens in such a case:

1. `org-open-at-point` parses the element at point and recognizes it’s within a `link` element
2. `org-open-at-point` calls `org-link-open` feeding it all the necessary information about the link
3. `org-link-open` opens the link directly. It does not need to do additional parsing and therefore does not need a temporary buffer, hence the above edge case situation never arises.