RocketChat/Rocket.Chat · error · PinMessagesNotAllowed

error-pinning-message

error-pinning-message

Error message

Error pinning message

What it means

updatePinMessage() is the optimistic-update hook for the pinMessage mutation: it throws PinMessagesNotAllowed('Error pinning message', { method: 'pinMessage' }) — error code error-pinning-message — when Messages.state.get(message._id) is undefined, i.e. the message being pinned is not in the local store and there is nothing to optimistically mark as pinned.

Solutions

  1. Ensure the message is stored (Messages.state.store(message)) before dispatching the pin mutation.
  2. Catch PinMessagesNotAllowed specifically and re-fetch/refresh instead of leaving the UI stuck.
  3. Route pin actions through the normal room data layer so the message is always cached.

Example fix

// before
updatePinMessage(message, { pinned: true }); // throws if not in store

// after
if (!Messages.state.get(message._id)) {
  Messages.state.store(message); // hydrate before optimistic update
}
updatePinMessage(message, { pinned: true });
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

if (!Messages.state.get(message._id)) {
  Messages.state.store(message); // hydrate before the optimistic update
}
updatePinMessage(message, { pinned: true });

Type guard

const isMessageCached = (message: IMessage): boolean => Boolean(Messages.state.get(message._id));

Try / catch

import { PinMessagesNotAllowed } from '../../../lib/errors/PinMessagesNotAllowed';
try {
  updatePinMessage(message, { pinned: true });
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof PinMessagesNotAllowed) {
    dispatchToastMessage({ type: 'error', message: t('error-pinning-message') });
    return;
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: The pinMessage mutation firing for a message that was never stored in Messages.state (pinned from a surface that fetched the message via REST without hydrating the store) or that was evicted/removed from the cache before the mutation ran.

Common situations: Pin actions in search results, pinned-messages lists, or notification contexts that bypass the room message cache; cache clears mid-session; double mutations after message deletion.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of RocketChat/Rocket.Chat@b2c16d5842 (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/36739c10dc4b05ec. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at apps/meteor/client/lib/mutationEffects/updatePinMessage.ts:10

import type { IMessage } from '@rocket.chat/core-typings';

import { Messages } from '../../stores';
import { PinMessagesNotAllowed } from '../errors/PinMessagesNotAllowed';

export const updatePinMessage = (message: IMessage, data: Partial<IMessage>) => {
	const msg = Messages.state.get(message._id);

	if (!msg) {
		throw new PinMessagesNotAllowed('Error pinning message', {
			method: 'pinMessage',
		});
	}

	Messages.state.update(
		(record) => record._id === message._id && record.rid === message.rid,
		(record) => ({ ...record, ...data }),
	);
};

View on GitHub (pinned to b2c16d5842)