NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra · warning · RuntimeError

Already connected

Error message

Already connected

What it means

Thrown by State.require_no_client() when a client connection already exists and a second connection is attempted. This guard prevents establishing multiple simultaneous connections to the trace server. The RuntimeError is raised if STATE.client is not None when require_no_client is called — typically at the start of ghidra_trace_connect.

Source

Thrown at Ghidra/Debug/Debugger-agent-dbgeng/src/main/py/src/ghidradbg/commands.py:126

    def require_rm(self) -> arch.DefaultRegisterMapper:
        if self.register_mapper is None:
            raise RuntimeError("No register mapper")
        return self.register_mapper


class State(object):

    def __init__(self) -> None:
        self.reset_client()

    def require_client(self) -> Client:
        if self.client is None:
            raise RuntimeError("Not connected")
        return self.client

    def require_no_client(self) -> None:
        if self.client != None:
            raise RuntimeError("Already connected")

    def reset_client(self) -> None:
        self.client: Optional[Client] = None
        self.reset_trace()

    def require_trace(self) -> Trace[Extra]:
        if self.trace is None:
            raise RuntimeError("No trace active")
        return self.trace

    def require_no_trace(self) -> None:
        if self.trace != None:
            raise RuntimeError("Trace already started")

    def reset_trace(self) -> None:
        self.trace: Optional[Trace[Extra]] = None
        util.set_convenience_variable('_ghidra_tracing', "false")
        self.reset_tx()

View on GitHub (pinned to d5f144c24d)

Solutions

1. Call ghidra_trace_disconnect() before calling ghidra_trace_connect() again.
2. Check connection state: call require_client() to see if already connected before connecting.
3. In scripts, always pair connect/disconnect in try/finally blocks.
4. If the connection is stale, disconnect and reconnect cleanly.

Example fix

# Before: double connect
# ghidra_trace_connect('127.0.0.1:12345')
# ghidra_trace_connect('127.0.0.1:12345')  # throws
#
# After:
# ghidra_trace_disconnect()
# ghidra_trace_connect('127.0.0.1:12345')

# Before connecting, check if already connected:
if STATE.client is not None:
    ghidra_trace_disconnect()
ghidra_trace_connect(address)

def is_already_connected(state) -> bool:
    return state.client is not None

try:
    ghidra_trace_connect(address)
except RuntimeError as e:
    if str(e) == 'Already connected':
        ghidra_trace_disconnect()
        ghidra_trace_connect(address)
    else:
        raise

When it happens

Trigger: STATE.require_no_client() is called at the beginning of ghidra_trace_connect, but STATE.client is already set from a previous successful connection. Happens when the user calls ghidra_trace_connect twice without disconnecting first, or when a script reconnects without calling ghidra_trace_disconnect.

Common situations: The user runs the connect command again without first disconnecting. A script loops and reconnects without cleanup. The previous connection is stale but was never formally closed.

Related errors

• Not connected
• Already connected
• Address {address} is not in process {proc}
• Invalid byte_order: {}
• Cannot convert {}'s value: '{}', type: '{}'

AI-assisted analysis of NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra@d5f144c24d (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ba04749e4ec1e71a. Report an issue: GitHub.