block/buzz · error · IngestError::Rejected

policy:nobody — this agent has disabled external channel add

Error message

policy:nobody — this agent has disabled external channel additions

What it means

The target agent's channel_add_policy is 'nobody': the agent has disabled all external channel additions. The relay rejects the 9000 add regardless of who signs it — only the agent's own self-add path (target == actor) goes through, since that returns Ok before the policy match. The DB ENUM constraint means only owner_only/nobody/anyone can be stored, so this is a deliberate opt-out, not an unknown value.

Source

Thrown at crates/buzz-relay/src/handlers/side_effects.rs:435

            // Third-party add: check channel_add_policy on the target.
            if let Some((policy, owner)) = state
                .db
                .get_agent_channel_policy(tenant.community(), &target_pubkey)
                .await?
            {
                match policy.as_str() {
                    "owner_only" => {
                        let owner_bytes = owner.ok_or_else(|| {
                            anyhow::anyhow!("policy:owner_only — agent has no owner set")
                        })?;
                        if actor_bytes != owner_bytes {
                            return Err(anyhow::anyhow!(
                                "policy:owner_only — only the agent owner can add this agent"
                            ));
                        }
                    }
                    "nobody" => {
                        return Err(anyhow::anyhow!(
                            "policy:nobody — this agent has disabled external channel additions"
                        ));
                    }
                    // "anyone" or any unknown value → allow.
                    // NOTE: DB ENUM constraint prevents unknown values from being stored.
                    // If a new policy value is added to the ENUM, update this match.
                    _ => {}
                }
            }

            Ok(())
        }
        9001 => {
            // REMOVE_USER: self-remove allowed unless actor is the last owner; removing others requires owner/admin
            let target_pubkey =
                extract_p_tag(event).ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("missing p tag"))?;
            if target_pubkey == actor_bytes {
                // Self-removal: must be an active member, and cannot be the last owner.

View on GitHub (pinned to f956e6fe06)

Solutions

1. Have the agent join the channel itself (self-add) if membership is desired
2. If external adds should be allowed again, the agent/operator changes the policy away from 'nobody'
3. Remove the agent from bulk-add lists when its policy is nobody, and surface policy state in admin tooling

Example fix

// before
put_user(ch, agent_pk).publish_as(anyone_keys)
// → policy:nobody — this agent has disabled external channel additions

// after: agent self-adds
put_user(ch, agent_own_pk).publish_as(agent_keys); // target == actor → allowed

// Respect the opt-out before publishing
let policy = client.get_agent_channel_policy(community, target_pubkey).await?;
anyhow::ensure!(
    policy.as_deref() != Some("nobody"),
    "agent has disabled external channel additions — ask it to self-join"
);

const blocksExternalAdds = (policy: string | null): boolean => policy === "nobody";

match validate_admin_event(&tenant, 9000, &event, &state).await {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("policy:nobody") => {
        // hard opt-out: no signer can pass; trigger the agent's own join flow instead
        invite_agent_self_join(target_pubkey, channel_id).await
    }
    other => other,
}

When it happens

Trigger: Any third-party 9000 naming an agent whose policy row is 'nobody'; bulk onboarding flows that sweep agent pubkeys into channels; attempting to add a retired or sandboxed agent that was locked down.

Common situations: Agents configured for single-channel use whose operators set nobody after setup; post-incident lockdown of an agent that was being spammed into channels; shared directories still listing agents that have since opted out.

Related errors

• policy:owner_only — agent has no owner set
• policy:owner_only — only the agent owner can add this agent
• missing or invalid h tag
• channel not found
• channel is archived

AI-assisted analysis of block/buzz@f956e6fe06 (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/39af39db506ca877. Report an issue: GitHub.