Hmbown/CodeWhale · error

Turn is stopping and cannot be steered

Error message

Turn {turn_id} is stopping and cannot be steered

What it means

steer_turn refuses to steer a turn that already has an interrupt requested (crates/tui/src/runtime_threads.rs:10400). Once interrupt_turn sets active_turn.interrupt_requested, the turn is winding down and queuing steering input would deliver a message to a turn the user asked to stop.

Solutions

1. Do not steer after requesting an interrupt; wait for the turn's terminal event, then start a new turn with the text.
2. Track the interrupt_requested state (via turn.interrupt_requested events) and disable steering in the UI meanwhile.
3. Serialize user actions so a steer cannot be issued between interrupt and turn end.

Example fix

// before
manager.interrupt_turn(&thread_id, &turn_id).await?;
manager.steer_turn(&thread_id, &turn_id, req).await?;
// after
manager.interrupt_turn(&thread_id, &turn_id).await?;
manager.wait_turn_finished(&thread_id).await?;
manager.send_message(&thread_id, req.prompt).await?;

// never steer a turn that is being interrupted
anyhow::ensure!(
    !is_interrupt_requested(&thread_id),
    "turn is stopping; wait for it to finish before sending input"
);

fn is_steerable(t: &ActiveTurn) -> bool { !t.interrupt_requested }

match manager.steer_turn(&tid, &turn_id, req.clone()).await {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("cannot be steered") => {
        manager.wait_turn_finished(&tid).await?;
        manager.send_message(&tid, req.prompt).await?
    }
    other => other?,
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling steer_turn after interrupt_turn(thread_id, turn_id) on the same turn but before the turn's terminal event arrives; concurrent interrupt + steer calls from different UI actions.

Common situations: User hits Escape (interrupt) then quickly types and sends a steering message; a batch script interleaving stop and steer commands; double-handling where a stop also triggers a queued 'please continue' steer.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Invalid state transition" errors: "status must be X, actually Y", "already rejected/charging/uninstalled", "cannot ... while running" — what they mean when a library rejects your call — this error's family across 31 libraries.

Related errors

• Turn is no longer in progress and cannot be steered
• No active turn on thread
• Thread engine changed while preparing steer; retry
• Turn is not active on thread
• Turn moved on before the steer reached the model;

AI-assisted analysis of Hmbown/CodeWhale@73e0f67d83 (2026-09-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/988f6a8b1ce22ce6. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at crates/tui/src/runtime_threads.rs:10401

        let prompt = req.prompt.trim().to_string();
        if prompt.is_empty() {
            bail!("prompt is required");
        }

        let engine = {
            let mut active = self.active.lock().await;
            let engine = {
                let Some(active_thread) = active.engines.get_mut(thread_id) else {
                    bail!("Thread is not loaded");
                };
                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 queued_turn;
        let item = TurnItemRecord {
            schema_version: CURRENT_RUNTIME_SCHEMA_VERSION,
            id: format!("item_{}", &Uuid::new_v4().to_string()[..8]),
            turn_id: turn_id.to_string(),

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