bitwarden/server · error · BadRequestException

Cipher was not archived. Ensure the provided ID is correct a

Error message

Cipher was not archived. Ensure the provided ID is correct and you have permission to archive it.

What it means

PUT /ciphers/{id}/archive (PutArchive) delegates to ArchiveManyAsync with a single id. If zero ciphers are archived — wrong id, not owned by the user, no edit permission, or an archived/deleted state — the server returns HTTP 400 telling the caller the id or permission is wrong.

Source

Thrown at src/Api/Vault/Controllers/CiphersController.cs:892

        {
            await _collectionCipherRepository.RemoveCollectionsForManyCiphersAsync(model.OrganizationId, model.CipherIds, model.CollectionIds);
        }
        else
        {
            await _collectionCipherRepository.AddCollectionsForManyCiphersAsync(model.OrganizationId, model.CipherIds, model.CollectionIds);
        }
    }

    [HttpPut("{id}/archive")]
    public async Task<CipherResponseModel> PutArchive(Guid id)
    {
        var userId = _userService.GetProperUserId(User).Value;

        var archivedCipherOrganizationDetails = await _archiveCiphersCommand.ArchiveManyAsync([id], userId);

        if (archivedCipherOrganizationDetails.Count == 0)
        {
            throw new BadRequestException("Cipher was not archived. Ensure the provided ID is correct and you have permission to archive it.");
        }

        var archivedCipher = archivedCipherOrganizationDetails.First();
        return new CipherResponseModel(archivedCipher, await _userService.GetUserByPrincipalAsync(User), await GetOrganizationAbilityAsync(archivedCipher), _globalSettings);
    }

    [HttpPut("archive")]
    public async Task<ListResponseModel<CipherResponseModel>> PutArchiveMany([FromBody] CipherBulkArchiveRequestModel model)
    {
        if (!_globalSettings.SelfHosted && model.Ids.Count() > 500)
        {
            throw new BadRequestException("You can only archive up to 500 items at a time.");
        }

        var userId = _userService.GetProperUserId(User).Value;
        var user = await _userService.GetUserByPrincipalAsync(User);

        var cipherIdsToArchive = new HashSet<Guid>(model.Ids);

View on GitHub (pinned to e93b962371)

Solutions

1. Verify the cipher id is correct and that you own or can edit the cipher.
2. Re-sync the vault to confirm the cipher exists and isn't already archived/deleted.
3. If it is an org cipher, confirm your collection/org permissions grant edit rights.

async function safeArchive(id) {
  const c = await api.get(`/ciphers/${id}`).catch(() => null);
  if (!c || !c.editable) throw new Error('Cipher missing or not editable; cannot archive');
  return api.put(`/ciphers/${id}/archive`);
}

function isArchivable(cipher: { id?: string; editable?: boolean; deletedDate?: string | null } | null): boolean {
  return !!cipher && !!cipher.id && cipher.editable === true && !cipher.deletedDate;
}

try { await api.put(`/ciphers/${id}/archive`); }
catch (e) {
  if (e?.response?.status === 400 && /not archived/i.test(e.response.data?.message ?? '')) {
    await syncVault(); // re-check ownership/permissions, do not blindly retry
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: PUT /ciphers/{id}/archive where the id does not exist, belongs to another user, or the user lacks permission to archive it.

Common situations: Archiving a cipher that was deleted by another client; archiving an org cipher without edit rights; a stale/outdated cipher id after sync.

Related errors

• No ciphers were archived. Ensure the provided IDs are correc
• You can only archive up to 500 items at a time.
• Cipher was not unarchived. Ensure the provided ID is correct
• Cipher was not encrypted for the current user. Please try ag
• Organization mismatch. Re-sync if you recently moved this it

AI-assisted analysis of bitwarden/server@e93b962371 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/264999f5d07a4c6c. Report an issue: GitHub.