Nil GlobalConfig causes panic in newRefreshConnectionState closes #4779 (#4899)

* Add test demonstrating nil GlobalConfig panic in newRefreshConnectionState

Test: TestRefreshConnectionState_ConnectionOrderEdgeCases
Demonstrates issue #4779 where nil GlobalConfig causes panic

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>

* Add nil check for GlobalConfig in newRefreshConnectionState

Fixes #4779: nil GlobalConfig causes panic in newRefreshConnectionState

Changes:
- Add nil check for GlobalConfig in newRefreshConnectionState before SetUserSearchPath
- Add nil check in getDefaultSearchPath to handle nil GlobalConfig gracefully
- Test now passes instead of panicking with nil pointer dereference

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>

---------

Co-authored-by: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>

pkg/connection/refresh_connections_state.go

@@ -66,6 +66,12 @@ func newRefreshConnectionState(ctx context.Context, pluginManager pluginManager,
 	if pool == nil {
 		return nil, sperr.New("plugin manager returned nil pool")
 	}
+
+	// Check if GlobalConfig is initialized before proceeding
+	if steampipeconfig.GlobalConfig == nil {
+		return nil, sperr.New("GlobalConfig is not initialized")
+	}
+
 	// set user search path first
 	log.Printf("[INFO] setting up search path")
 	searchPath, err := db_local.SetUserSearchPath(ctx, pool)

pkg/connection/refresh_connections_state_test.go

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
@@ -543,3 +544,39 @@ func TestNewRefreshConnectionState_NilPool(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Error("Expected error when pool is nil, got nil")
 	}
 }
+
+// TestRefreshConnectionState_ConnectionOrderEdgeCases tests edge cases in connection ordering
+// This test demonstrates issue #4779 - nil GlobalConfig causes panic in newRefreshConnectionState
+func TestRefreshConnectionState_ConnectionOrderEdgeCases(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("nil_global_config", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// ARRANGE: Save original GlobalConfig and set it to nil
+		originalConfig := steampipeconfig.GlobalConfig
+		steampipeconfig.GlobalConfig = nil
+		defer func() {
+			steampipeconfig.GlobalConfig = originalConfig
+		}()
+
+		ctx := context.Background()
+
+		// Create a mock plugin manager with a valid pool
+		// We need a pool to get past the nil pool check
+		// For this test, we can use a nil pool since we expect the function to fail
+		// before it tries to use the pool
+		mockPM := &mockPluginManager{
+			pool: &pgxpool.Pool{}, // Need a non-nil pool to get past line 66-68
+		}
+
+		// ACT: Call newRefreshConnectionState with nil GlobalConfig
+		// This should not panic - should return an error instead
+		_, err := newRefreshConnectionState(ctx, mockPM, nil)
+
+		// ASSERT: Should return an error, not panic
+		if err == nil {
+			t.Error("Expected error when GlobalConfig is nil, got nil")
+		}
+
+		if err != nil && !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "GlobalConfig") {
+			t.Errorf("Expected error message to mention GlobalConfig, got: %v", err)
+		}
+	})
+}

pkg/db/db_local/search_path.go

@@ -81,11 +81,15 @@ func SetUserSearchPath(ctx context.Context, pool *pgxpool.Pool) ([]string, error
 func getDefaultSearchPath() []string {
 	// add all connections to the seatrch path (UNLESS ImportSchema is disabled)
 	var searchPath []string
+
+	// Check if GlobalConfig is initialized
+	if steampipeconfig.GlobalConfig != nil {
 		for connectionName, connection := range steampipeconfig.GlobalConfig.Connections {
 			if connection.ImportSchema == modconfig.ImportSchemaEnabled {
 				searchPath = append(searchPath, connectionName)
 			}
 		}
+	}
 
 	sort.Strings(searchPath)
 	// add the 'public' schema as the first schema in the search_path. This makes it