RocketChat/Rocket.Chat · error

You_have_been_muted

Error message

You_have_been_muted

What it means

validateRoomMessagePermissionsAsync throws You_have_been_muted (plain Error) when the acting username appears in room.muted — the room-level mute list set by moderators. Unlike read-only (a whole-room state) this silences one user in that room, and the room.unmuted list does not lift it.

Source

Thrown at apps/meteor/server/lib/authorization/canSendMessage.ts:50

	if (
		await roomCoordinator.getRoomDirectives(room.t).allowMemberAction(room, RoomMemberActions.BLOCK, 'uid' in args ? args.uid : args._id)
	) {
		const subscription = await Subscriptions.findOneByRoomIdAndUserId(room._id, 'uid' in args ? args.uid : args._id, subscriptionOptions);
		if (subscription && (subscription.blocked || subscription.blocker)) {
			throw new Error('room_is_blocked');
		}
	}

	if (room.ro === true && !(await hasPermissionAsync('uid' in args ? args.uid : args._id, 'post-readonly', room._id))) {
		// Unless the user was manually unmuted
		if (args.username && !(room.unmuted || []).includes(args.username)) {
			throw new Error("You can't send messages because the room is readonly.");
		}
	}

	if (args.username && room?.muted?.includes(args.username)) {
		throw new Error('You_have_been_muted');
	}
}
// TODO: remove option uid and username and type
export async function canSendMessageAsync(
	rid: IRoom['_id'],
	user: { uid: IUser['_id']; username: IUser['username']; type: IUser['type'] } | IUser,
	extraData?: Record<string, any>,
): Promise<IRoom> {
	const room = await Rooms.findOneById(rid);
	if (!room) {
		throw new Error('error-invalid-room');
	}

	await validateRoomMessagePermissionsAsync(room, user, extraData);
	return room;
}

View on GitHub (pinned to b2c16d5842)

Solutions

1. A moderator unmutes the user (removes the username from room.muted)
2. Before sending programmatically, check room.muted for the acting username and surface a 'muted in this channel' state
3. Prefer time-boxed muting over permanent mutes for temporary silencing

if (room.muted?.includes(username)) {
  // show 'you are muted in this channel' and block the send locally
}

const isMutedInRoom = (room: { muted?: string[] }, username: string): boolean =>
  room.muted?.includes(username) === true;

try {
  await sendMessage(...);
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof Error && e.message === 'You_have_been_muted') {
    // muted by moderation: no retry; surface muted state in the composer
  }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: A muted user (or an integration acting as them) sends any message to the room where a moderator muted them via the user card or moderation tools.

Common situations: Moderators mute spammers and the spam client keeps posting; users muted during town-hall meetings; a stale mute list nobody remembers to clear.

Related errors

• You can't delete messages because the room is readonly.
• room_is_archived
• You can't send messages because the room is readonly.
• Not allowed
• error-action-not-allowed

AI-assisted analysis of RocketChat/Rocket.Chat@b2c16d5842 (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/60882c846ea04b45. Report an issue: GitHub.