RocketChat/Rocket.Chat · error · Error

Provided agent is not online

Error message

Provided agent is not online

What it means

Plain Error thrown by validateMaxChats on 'livechat.checkAgentBeforeTakeInquiry' when checkOnlineAgents(undefined, agent) reports the target agent as not online. An agent must be online (available status) at the moment of taking an inquiry from the waiting queue.

Solutions

  1. Set the agent's Livechat status to Online (statusLivechat 'available' and a synchronous status) and retry
  2. Verify the user actually has the livechat-agent role and appears in the online agents registry
  3. If automating takes, poll for agent online state before issuing the take action

Example fix

// before: taking the inquiry blindly
await callbacks.run('livechat.checkAgentBeforeTakeInquiry', inquiry, agent);

// after: apply the same online gate first
if (!(await checkOnlineAgents(undefined, agent))) {
  throw new Error('Agent must be online to take an inquiry');
}
await callbacks.run('livechat.checkAgentBeforeTakeInquiry', inquiry, agent);
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const agentIsOnline = async (agent: { agentId: string; status?: string }): Promise<boolean> =>
  Boolean(await checkOnlineAgents(undefined, agent));

Try / catch

try {
  await takeInquiry(inquiry, agent);
} catch (err: any) {
  if (err?.message === 'Provided agent is not online') {
    // prompt agent to go online; retry only after statusLivechat is available
  }
  throw err;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Taking a queued inquiry while the agent's status is away/busy/offline or the agent lacks livechat-agent availability; races where the agent went offline between the UI action and the server check.

Common situations: Agents forgetting to switch back to Online after a break; status sync delays after reconnects; automation trying to auto-assign to agents whose livechat status is not online.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of RocketChat/Rocket.Chat@b2c16d5842 (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e3a807c741b0468c. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at apps/meteor/ee/server/hooks/omnichannel/checkAgentBeforeTakeInquiry.ts:37

		department: string;
	};
	options: {
		forwardingToDepartment?: {
			oldDepartmentId: string;
			transferData: any;
		};
		clientAction?: boolean;
	};
}) => {
	if (!inquiry?._id || !agent?.agentId) {
		cbLogger.debug('No inquiry or agent provided');
		throw new Error('No inquiry or agent provided');
	}
	const { agentId } = agent;

	if (!(await checkOnlineAgents(undefined, agent))) {
		cbLogger.debug('Provided agent is not online');
		throw new Error('Provided agent is not online');
	}

	if (!settings.get('Livechat_waiting_queue')) {
		cbLogger.info({ msg: 'Chat can be taken by Agent: waiting queue is disabled', agentId });
		return agent;
	}

	if (await allowAgentSkipQueue(agent)) {
		cbLogger.info({ msg: 'Chat can be taken by Agent: agent can skip queue', agentId });
		return agent;
	}

	const { department: departmentId } = inquiry;
	const user = await Users.getAgentAndAmountOngoingChats(agentId, departmentId);
	if (!user) {
		cbLogger.debug({ msg: 'No valid agent found', agentId });
		throw new Error('No valid agent found');
	}

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