RocketChat/Rocket.Chat · error · Meteor.Error

error-invalid-room

error-invalid-room

Error message

Invalid room

What it means

Thrown by addRoomOwner() in apps/meteor/server/meteor-methods/rooms/addRoomOwner.ts:30 when Rooms.findOneById(rid) returns null — no room document matches the supplied room ID. The lookup only projects t/federated/federation, so the ID must exist as a room _id. It fires before any permission or federation checks, making 'room does not exist' the first gate of the operation.

Source

Thrown at apps/meteor/server/meteor-methods/rooms/addRoomOwner.ts:30

import { notifyOnSubscriptionChangedById } from '../../lib/notifyListener';
import { syncRoomRolePriorityForUserAndRoom } from '../../lib/roles/syncRoomRolePriority';
import { isFederationEnabled, FederationMatrixInvalidConfigurationError } from '../../services/federation/utils';
import { settings } from '../../settings';

declare module '@rocket.chat/ddp-client' {
	// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/naming-convention
	interface ServerMethods {
		addRoomOwner(rid: IRoom['_id'], userId: IUser['_id']): boolean;
	}
}

export const addRoomOwner = async (fromUserId: IUser['_id'], rid: IRoom['_id'], userId: IUser['_id']): Promise<boolean> => {
	check(rid, String);
	check(userId, String);

	const room = await Rooms.findOneById(rid, { projection: { t: 1, federated: 1, federation: 1 } });
	if (!room) {
		throw new Meteor.Error('error-invalid-room', 'Invalid room', {
			method: 'addRoomOwner',
		});
	}

	const isFederated = isRoomFederated(room);

	if (!(await hasPermissionAsync(fromUserId, 'set-owner', rid)) && !isFederated) {
		throw new Meteor.Error('error-not-allowed', 'Not allowed', {
			method: 'addRoomOwner',
		});
	}

	if (isFederated && !isFederationEnabled()) {
		throw new FederationMatrixInvalidConfigurationError('unable to change room owners');
	}

	const user = await Users.findOneById(userId);

View on GitHub (pinned to b2c16d5842)

Solutions

1. Verify the rid exists: on the server await Rooms.findOneById(rid, { projection: { _id: 1 } }); on the client call the rooms API to confirm the room is still available.
2. Re-fetch the rid at the point of use (e.g. from the current subscription/room record) instead of caching it long-term.
3. Confirm you are on the correct workspace/environment for that room ID.
4. Prefer the REST endpoints POST /v1/channels.addOwner / POST /v1/groups.addOwner, which return structured 400 invalid-room responses.

Example fix

// before
await addRoomOwner(uid, '665f0c1e2f7ba1a4b9a2c111', userId);

// after
const room = await Rooms.findOneById(rid, { projection: { _id: 1 } });
if (!room) throw new Error(`room ${rid} not found; refresh rid`);
await addRoomOwner(uid, room._id, userId);

const room = await Rooms.findOneById(rid, { projection: { _id: 1 } });
if (!room) throw new Error(`room ${rid} not found`);

const isRoomId = (v: unknown): v is string => typeof v === 'string' && /^[A-Za-z0-9]{17}$/.test(v);

try {
  await addRoomOwner(uid, rid, userId);
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof Meteor.Error && e.error === 'error-invalid-room') {
    // refresh rid from the current room/subscription context
  }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling addRoomOwner / the 'addRoomOwner' Meteor method / flows that reuse it with a rid that is not a room _id (e.g. a subscription _id, a message rid typo, an ID from another workspace, or a room that was deleted). Also triggered by stale rid values cached in client code after the room was removed.

Common situations: Copy-pasting the wrong ObjectId from the database; referencing a deleted channel; environment mismatch (dev rid used against prod); federation scenarios where the remote room ID format differs; client code holding a rid across room deletion.

Related errors

• error-invalid-user
• error-invalid-user
• error-invalid-room
• Only channels, private groups and direct messages can be cre
• Invalid user

AI-assisted analysis of RocketChat/Rocket.Chat@b2c16d5842 (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4aca06553d71a6e2. Report an issue: GitHub.