SnapDrop/snapdrop · error

WS: unkown message type

Error message

WS: unkown message type

What it means

Logged in the default branch of the message-type switch in _onMessage: the WebSocket server sent a message whose msg.type is not one of the known cases (peers, peer-joined, peer-left, signal, ping, display-name), i.e. the client and server protocol versions disagree or an unexpected/invalid type reached the dispatcher.

Source

Thrown at client/scripts/network.js:48

                Events.fire('peers', msg.peers);
                break;
            case 'peer-joined':
                Events.fire('peer-joined', msg.peer);
                break;
            case 'peer-left':
                Events.fire('peer-left', msg.peerId);
                break;
            case 'signal':
                Events.fire('signal', msg);
                break;
            case 'ping':
                this.send({ type: 'pong' });
                break;
            case 'display-name':
                Events.fire('display-name', msg);
                break;
            default:
                console.error('WS: unkown message type', msg);
        }
    }

    send(message) {
        if (!this._isConnected()) return;
        this._socket.send(JSON.stringify(message));
    }

    _endpoint() {
        // hack to detect if deployment or development environment
        const protocol = location.protocol.startsWith('https') ? 'wss' : 'ws';
        const webrtc = window.isRtcSupported ? '/webrtc' : '/fallback';
        const url = protocol + '://' + location.host + location.pathname + 'server' + webrtc;
        return url;
    }

    _disconnect() {
        this.send({ type: 'disconnect' });

View on GitHub (pinned to b8b78cc22a)

Solutions

1. Add a case for the new message type in the switch in _onMessage
2. Make the default branch a no-op so unknown types are ignored
3. Log msg.type along with the message to identify the unrecognized payload
4. Update the client to a version matching the server's WebSocket protocol

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at client/scripts/network.js:48 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of SnapDrop/snapdrop@b8b78cc22a (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d9c07709aec4a6fe. Report an issue: GitHub.