MagicMirrorOrg/MagicMirror · warning

module tries to update the DOM without being displayed.

Error message

module tries to update the DOM without being displayed.

What it means

updateDom is the public API a module uses to ask the frontend to re-render. If the calling module has no data.position, it is not placed in any region, so there is nothing to update; MagicMirror logs this warning and skips the update instead of crashing.

Source

Thrown at js/main.js:664

		}

		// Further implementation is done in the private method.
		_sendNotification(notification, payload, sender);
	},

	/**
	 * Update the dom for a specific module.
	 * @param {Module} module The module that needs an update.
	 * @param {object|number} [updateOptions] The (optional) number of microseconds for the animation or object with updateOptions (speed/animates)
	 */
	async updateDom (module, updateOptions) {
		if (!(module instanceof Module)) {
			Log.error("updateDom: Sender should be a module.");
			return;
		}

		if (!module.data.position) {
			Log.warn("module tries to update the DOM without being displayed.");
			return;
		}

		// Further implementation is done in the private method.
		await _updateDom(module, updateOptions);
		// Once the update is complete and rendered, send a notification to the module that the DOM has been updated
		_sendNotification("MODULE_DOM_UPDATED", null, null, module);
	},

	/**
	 * Returns a collection of all modules currently active.
	 * @returns {Module[]} A collection of all modules currently active.
	 */
	getModules () {
		setSelectionMethodsForModules(modules);
		return modules;
	},

View on GitHub (pinned to 4b4a59534f)

Solutions

1. Add a valid `position` (e.g. "top_bar", "upper_third") to the module's config entry in config.js.
2. Guard the updateDom call: only send updates when Module.data.position is set.
3. If the module is intentionally unpositioned, use a different render mechanism (e.g. DOM manipulation via getDom only) and skip updateDom.

Example fix

// before (config.js)
{ module: "compliments", config: { ... } }
// after
{ module: "compliments", position: "lower_third", config: { ... } }

// config.js sanity check before starting:
// every module entry that calls updateDom must declare position
require('./js/check_config.js') // or: npm run config:check

function hasPosition (module) {
  return module instanceof Module && typeof module.data.position === "string" && module.data.position.length > 0;
}
if (hasPosition(myModule)) myModule.sendNotification("DOM_OBJECTS_CREATED");

When it happens

Trigger: Calling this.sendNotification("UPDATE_DOM"...)/updateDom from a module whose config omits `position`, or from a module dynamically created without a position, or before the module has been assigned to a region.

Common situations: Adding a new module to config.js and forgetting the `position` key while the module's code calls updateDom in notificationReceived("DOM_OBJECTS_CREATED") or after fetching data; modules that render only via a hidden/child element but still call updateDom.

Related errors

• node not found for adding
• node not found for removing

AI-assisted analysis of MagicMirrorOrg/MagicMirror@4b4a59534f (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ff61123ca62382ec. Report an issue: GitHub.