Hmbown/CodeWhale · error

Failed to steer turn: {error}

Error message

Failed to steer turn: {error}

What it means

Wrapper error from steer_turn: the inner {error} is one of the bail! guards on the active-thread state (no active turn on the thread, turn_id mismatch, or interrupt already requested) or a failure sending/applying the steer operation to the engine. The message itself only labels the operation; the cause string identifies which precondition failed.

Source

Thrown at crates/tui/src/runtime_threads.rs:6252

                let Some(active_turn) = active_thread.active_turn.as_mut() else {
                    bail!("No active turn on thread {thread_id}");
                };
                if active_turn.turn_id != turn_id {
                    bail!("Turn {turn_id} is not active on thread {thread_id}");
                }
                if active_turn.interrupt_requested {
                    bail!("Turn {turn_id} is stopping and cannot be steered");
                }
                active_thread.engine.clone()
            };
            touch_lru(&mut active.lru, thread_id);
            engine
        };

        let permit = engine
            .reserve_steer()
            .await
            .map_err(|error| anyhow!("Failed to steer turn: {error}"))?;

        let now = Utc::now();
        let item = TurnItemRecord {
            schema_version: CURRENT_RUNTIME_SCHEMA_VERSION,
            id: format!("item_{}", &Uuid::new_v4().to_string()[..8]),
            turn_id: turn_id.to_string(),
            kind: TurnItemKind::UserMessage,
            status: TurnItemLifecycleStatus::Completed,
            summary: summarize_text(&prompt, SUMMARY_LIMIT),
            detail: Some(prompt.clone()),
            metadata: None,
            artifact_refs: Vec::new(),
            started_at: Some(now),
            ended_at: Some(now),
        };
        let receipt_rx = {
            let mut active = self.active.lock().await;
            let Some(active_thread) = active.engines.get(thread_id) else {

View on GitHub (pinned to 0c42157ee5)

Solutions

1. Read the inner error: 'No active turn', 'not active on thread', or 'stopping and cannot be steered' each mean the steer raced with turn completion or interruption — wait for the turn to finish or restart it
2. Confirm the turn_id passed matches the turn currently running on that thread
3. If the engine op failed, check engine logs and retry the steer once the turn state is consistent

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at crates/tui/src/runtime_threads.rs:6252 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of Hmbown/CodeWhale@0c42157ee5 (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/364a3f0f8ea5d1eb. Report an issue: GitHub.