RocketChat/Rocket.Chat · error · Meteor.Error

error-invalid-user

error-invalid-user

Error message

Invalid user

What it means

The getSingleMessage Meteor-method wrapper throws 'error-invalid-user' when Meteor.userId() is null — no authenticated user on the DDP connection. The room-access check inside the helper never runs because the user id itself is missing.

Source

Thrown at apps/meteor/server/meteor-methods/messages/getSingleMessage.ts:37

	if (!msg?.rid) {
		return null;
	}

	if (!(await canAccessRoomIdAsync(msg.rid, userId))) {
		throw new Meteor.Error('error-not-allowed', 'Not allowed', { method: 'getSingleMessage' });
	}

	return msg;
};

Meteor.methods<ServerMethods>({
	async getSingleMessage(mid) {
		check(mid, String);

		const uid = Meteor.userId();

		if (!uid) {
			throw new Meteor.Error('error-invalid-user', 'Invalid user', { method: 'getSingleMessage' });
		}

		return getSingleMessage(uid, mid);
	},
});

View on GitHub (pinned to b2c16d5842)

Solutions

  1. Guard on Meteor.userId(); re-login when null
  2. Use GET /v1/chat.getMessage with an authenticated token instead
  3. Retry once after re-authentication for deep-link flows

Example fix

// before
Meteor.call('getSingleMessage', mid);

// after
if (!Meteor.userId()) {
  // re-authenticate, then retry
}
Meteor.call('getSingleMessage', mid);
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if (!Meteor.userId()) {
  // re-authenticate before resolving deep-linked messages
} else {
  Meteor.call('getSingleMessage', mid);
}

Try / catch

try {
  const msg = await Meteor.callAsync('getSingleMessage', mid);
} catch (e) {
  if ((e as Meteor.Error).error === 'error-invalid-user') {
    // re-login then retry once; otherwise show unavailable
  }
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Meteor.call('getSingleMessage', mid) from an anonymous connection or one whose token expired/was revoked.

Common situations: Deep-link handling in tabs that lost their session; integrations fetching single messages over DDP without login.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of RocketChat/Rocket.Chat@b2c16d5842 (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e84eadb9afabf6ff. Report an issue: GitHub.