RocketChat/Rocket.Chat · error · Error

error-contact-channel-blocked

error-contact-channel-blocked

Error message

error-contact-channel-blocked

What it means

After getRoom locates the room, it asks LivechatContacts.isChannelBlocked for the visitor association (room.v._id + room.source). If the contact's channel is blocked, a plain Error('error-contact-channel-blocked') is thrown, so the visitor cannot continue the existing conversation.

Source

Thrown at apps/meteor/server/lib/omnichannel/rooms.ts:64

	notifyOnSubscriptionChanged,
	notifyOnRoomChanged,
} from '../notifyListener';

export async function getRoom(
	guest: ILivechatVisitor,
	message: Pick<IMessage, 'rid' | 'msg' | 'token'>,
	roomInfo: IOmnichannelRoomInfo,
	agent?: SelectedAgent,
	extraData?: IOmnichannelRoomExtraData,
) {
	if (!settings.get('Livechat_enabled')) {
		throw new Meteor.Error('error-omnichannel-is-disabled');
	}
	livechatLogger.debug({ msg: 'Attempting to find or create a room for visitor', visitorId: guest._id });
	const room = await LivechatRooms.findOneById(message.rid);

	if (room?.v._id && (await LivechatContacts.isChannelBlocked(Visitors.makeVisitorAssociation(room.v._id, room.source)))) {
		throw new Error('error-contact-channel-blocked');
	}

	if (!room?.open) {
		livechatLogger.debug({ msg: 'Last room for visitor closed. Creating new one', visitorId: guest._id });
	}

	if (!room?.open) {
		return {
			room: await createRoom({ visitor: guest, message: message.msg, roomInfo, agent, extraData }),
			newRoom: true,
		};
	}

	if (room.v.token !== guest.token) {
		livechatLogger.debug({ msg: 'Visitor trying to access another visitor room', visitorId: guest._id });
		throw new Meteor.Error('cannot-access-room');
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to b2c16d5842)

Solutions

  1. Unblock the contact channel in Administration > Omnichannel > Contacts (or the equivalent contact API) and retry.
  2. If the block was automated, review the rule/app that blocked this visitor.
  3. Inspect the LivechatContacts record for the visitor/source pair to confirm the block state.
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const blocked = room?.v?._id
	? await LivechatContacts.isChannelBlocked(Visitors.makeVisitorAssociation(room.v._id, room.source))
	: false;
if (blocked) {
	// inform the visitor the channel is blocked instead of calling getRoom
}

Try / catch

try {
	const { room } = await getRoom(guest, message, roomInfo);
} catch (err) {
	if ((err as Error).message === 'error-contact-channel-blocked') {
		// show 'this channel can no longer be used'; do not retry
		return;
	}
	throw err;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: A visitor whose contact channel (e.g., a WhatsApp number or other source identity) was blocked sends a message into an existing room: the room lookup succeeds, then the block check fails.

Common situations: An agent or automation blocked the contact in the omnichannel Contacts panel; a spam contact keeps reusing an old rid; a moderation workflow blocks channels automatically.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of RocketChat/Rocket.Chat@b2c16d5842 (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/813894d88d425fa9. Report an issue: GitHub.