BCUninstaller/Bulk-Crap-Uninstaller · error · Exception

{canonicalName} is not a recognized or allowed app name

Error message

{canonicalName} is not a recognized or allowed app name

What it means

Thrown by OculusManager.RemoveApp(string) when QueryOculusApps returns zero apps whose CanonicalName matches the argument (case-insensitive). It is a plain System.Exception (no dedicated type), surfaced as 'not a recognized or allowed app name'. The check fires after enumerating installed Oculus titles from the Oculus library JSON, so a miss means either the name is wrong or the app is not installed/tracked.

Source

Thrown at source/OculusHelper/OculusManager.cs:139

                    }
                }
            }

            return apps;
        }

        public static void RemoveApp(string canonicalName)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Looking for apps with canonical name: " + canonicalName);

            var apps = QueryOculusApps()
                .Where(x => canonicalName.Equals(x.CanonicalName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
                .ToList();

            if (apps.Count == 0)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Invalid app name or app can't be uninstalled");
                throw new Exception($"{canonicalName} is not a recognized or allowed app name");
            }

            foreach (var app in apps)
                RemoveApp(app);
        }

        public static void RemoveApp(OculusApp app)
        {
            CloseOculusClient();

            Console.WriteLine("Removing Oculus app: " + app.CanonicalName);
            Debug.Assert(app.CanonicalName.Length > 10);

            foreach (var libraryLocation in OculusLibraryLocations)
            {
                // Collect paths first to avoid crashing halfway
                var dirs = Directory.GetDirectories(libraryLocation,
                    $"*{app.CanonicalName}*", SearchOption.AllDirectories);

View on GitHub (pinned to 608321de98)

Solutions

1. Call QueryOculusApps() first and confirm the canonical name exists in the returned list before calling RemoveApp.
2. List installed apps (their CanonicalName values) for the user to pick from rather than guessing the string.
3. Verify the Oculus software and library are installed on the machine before attempting removal.
4. Treat a zero-match result as a no-op/success in your own orchestrator if 'remove if present' semantics are acceptable.

Example fix

// before
OculusManager.RemoveApp(nameFromConfig);

// after
var installed = OculusManager.QueryOculusApps();
if (installed.Any(a => a.CanonicalName.Equals(nameFromConfig, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)))
    OculusManager.RemoveApp(nameFromConfig);
else
    Console.WriteLine($"{nameFromConfig} is not installed, skipping");

var installed = OculusManager.QueryOculusApps();
var match = installed.FirstOrDefault(a =>
    a.CanonicalName.Equals(canonicalName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase));
if (match == null) return; // not installed; nothing to remove

static bool IsInstalledOculusApp(string canonicalName) =>
    OculusManager.QueryOculusApps().Any(a =>
        a.CanonicalName.Equals(canonicalName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase));

try { OculusManager.RemoveApp(canonicalName); }
catch (Exception ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("not a recognized"))
{ /* treat as already removed / not present */ }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling RemoveApp(canonicalName) where canonicalName does not match any installed app's CanonicalName; the Oculus software library is not installed so QueryOculusApps returns nothing; the install location was moved so Directory.Exists checks inside QueryOculusApps filtered the app out.

Common situations: Hardcoding a canonical name that changed between Oculus versions; uninstalling an app that was already removed; running on a machine without the Oculus software; the Oculus library JSON being empty or in a new format.

Related errors

• Minimum value must be lower than or equal to the maximum val
• Font size must be higher than 0
• Icon handle must not be zero
• Not a Windows .exe file.
• Failed to parse the input

AI-assisted analysis of BCUninstaller/Bulk-Crap-Uninstaller@608321de98 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/afca18c2030c9a76. Report an issue: GitHub.