BookStackApp/BookStack · error · Exception

errors.cannot_add_comment_to_draft

Error message

errors.cannot_add_comment_to_draft

What it means

Generic \Exception (with a translated message) thrown in CommentRepo::create when the target entity is a draft Page; BookStack forbids comments on drafts since drafts are not visible to other users. Input at fault: a Page entity with draft=true passed to create().

Source

Thrown at app/Activity/CommentRepo.php:48

    }

    /**
     * Start a query for comments visible to the user.
     * @return Builder<Comment>
     */
    public function getQueryForVisible(): Builder
    {
        return Comment::query()->scopes('visible');
    }

    /**
     * Create a new comment on an entity.
     */
    public function create(Entity $entity, string $html, ?int $parentId, string $contentRef): Comment
    {
        // Prevent comments being added to draft pages
        if ($entity instanceof Page && $entity->draft) {
            throw new \Exception(trans('errors.cannot_add_comment_to_draft'));
        }

        // Validate parent ID
        if ($parentId !== null) {
            $parentCommentExists = Comment::query()
                ->where('commentable_id', '=', $entity->id)
                ->where('commentable_type', '=', $entity->getMorphClass())
                ->where('local_id', '=', $parentId)
                ->exists();
            if (!$parentCommentExists) {
                $parentId = null;
            }
        }

        $userId = user()->id;
        $comment = new Comment();

        $comment->html = HtmlDescriptionFilter::filterFromString($html);

View on GitHub (pinned to 18f8469a1c)

Solutions

1. Publish the draft page before adding comments
2. Only surface comment UI for pages that are published
3. If hit programmatically, check $page->draft before calling CommentRepo::create

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at app/Activity/CommentRepo.php:48 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of BookStackApp/BookStack@18f8469a1c (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ad8524c1b4096766. Report an issue: GitHub.