OpenHands/OpenHands · warning · Error

Public sharing requires a cloud backend.

Error message

Public sharing requires a cloud backend.

What it means

Thrown by updateConversationPublicFlag when the active backend is not cloud. Public sharing (shareable conversation links) is a cloud-only feature backed by the cloud API's updateCloudConversationPublicFlag endpoint. Local agent-server conversations have no concept of public sharing, so the method explicitly rejects non-cloud backends.

Source

Thrown at src/api/conversation-service/agent-server-conversation-service.api.ts:587

    if (getActiveBackend().backend.kind === "cloud") {
      return batchGetCloudConversations(ids);
    }

    const data = await new ConversationClient(
      getAgentServerClientOptions(),
    ).getConversations<DirectConversationInfo>(ids);

    return requireDirectConversationItems(data).map((item) =>
      toAppConversation(item),
    );
  }

  static async updateConversationPublicFlag(
    conversationId: string,
    isPublic: boolean,
  ): Promise<AppConversation> {
    if (getActiveBackend().backend.kind !== "cloud") {
      throw new Error("Public sharing requires a cloud backend.");
    }
    return updateCloudConversationPublicFlag(conversationId, isPublic);
  }

  static async updateConversationRepository(
    conversationId: string,
    repository: string | null,
    branch?: string | null,
    gitProvider?: string | null,
  ): Promise<AppConversation> {
    if (repository) {
      const existing = getStoredConversationMetadata(conversationId);
      setStoredConversationMetadata(conversationId, {
        ...(existing ?? {}),
        selected_repository: repository,
        selected_branch: branch ?? null,
        git_provider: (gitProvider as Provider | null | undefined) ?? null,
      });

View on GitHub (pinned to 500b4c533e)

Solutions

1. Hide the public-share UI control when the active backend is local (check getActiveBackend().backend.kind in the component).
2. If the user switched backends, close any open share dialogs and reset the share state.
3. Ensure the feature flag or UI condition for showing the share toggle includes a backend.kind === 'cloud' check.

Example fix

// before: share toggle visible regardless of backend
{showShareButton && <ShareToggle onChange={...} />}

// after: gate on cloud backend
{showShareButton && getActiveBackend().backend.kind === 'cloud' && <ShareToggle onChange={...} />}

import { getActiveBackend } from '#/api/backend-registry/active-store';

function canShareConversation(): boolean {
  return getActiveBackend().backend.kind === 'cloud';
}

// Before showing share UI:
if (!canShareConversation()) {
  hideShareButton();
}

function isPublicShareRequiresCloud(e: unknown): boolean {
  return e instanceof Error && e.message === 'Public sharing requires a cloud backend.';
}

try {
  await AgentServerConversationService.updateConversationPublicFlag(id, isPublic);
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof Error && error.message.includes('requires a cloud backend')) {
    showToast('Public sharing is only available with a cloud backend');
    return;
  }
  throw error;
}

When it happens

Trigger: The UI calls AgentServerConversationService.updateConversationPublicFlag(conversationId, true) when getActiveBackend().backend.kind is 'local' instead of 'cloud'. This happens if the public-share toggle is visible/enabled on a local backend conversation, or if the user switched from cloud to local while the share dialog was open.

Common situations: UI bug where the share button is shown for local conversations; user switched backends (cloud -> local) while a cloud conversation's share modal was open; the share feature was enabled without checking backend kind in the component.

Related errors

• Branching a conversation isn't supported on the cloud backen
• Conversation sandbox is still starting. Wait for it to finis
• Conversation sandbox is still starting. Wait for it to finis
• Invalid response from runtime - runtime may be unavailable
• OAuth authorization requires a reachable local backend.

AI-assisted analysis of OpenHands/OpenHands@500b4c533e (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b55435f671c461f5. Report an issue: GitHub.