hcengineering/platform · error · Error

Invalid sign in method

Error message

Invalid sign in method

What it means

SignInFlow.init() enforces a strict state machine: it may only be called when _state === 'init'. Calling init after the flow has already progressed (state 'code', 'pass', or 'done') makes sending another code invalid, so it throws.

Source

Thrown at services/telegram/pod-telegram/src/telegram.ts:29

import config from './config'
import { ApiError, Code } from './error'

Logger.setLevel('none')

type SignInState = 'init' | 'code' | 'pass' | 'end'
class SignInFlow {
  private _state: SignInState = 'init'
  private codeHash: string | undefined

  constructor (
    private readonly client: TelegramClient,
    private readonly phone: string,
    private readonly onEnd: () => void
  ) {}

  async init (): Promise<void> {
    if (this._state !== 'init') {
      throw Error('Invalid sign in method')
    }

    const res = await this.client.sendCode(this.creds, this.phone)
    this.codeHash = res.phoneCodeHash
    this._state = 'code'
  }

  get state (): SignInState {
    return this._state
  }

  async code (code: string): Promise<boolean> {
    if (this._state !== 'code') {
      throw Error('Invalid sign in method')
    }

    try {
      const res = await this.client.invoke(

View on GitHub (pinned to 63e28dc964)

Solutions

1. Create a fresh sign-in flow (re-initialize the connection) instead of reusing the old one
2. Check signInFlow.state before calling init and only call it when state is 'init'
3. Debounce/disable the send-code button so init is invoked once per flow
4. Catch the error and surface 'sign-in already started' to the user

Example fix

// before
if (existing.flow !== undefined) await existing.flow.init() // throws if already past init
// after
if (existing.flow === undefined || existing.flow.state === 'init') {
  await startSignInFlow(phone)
}

if (flow.state === 'init') await flow.init()

const canInit = (flow: { state: SignInState }): flow is { state: 'init' } => flow.state === 'init'

try {
  await flow.init()
} catch (err) {
  if (err.message === 'Invalid sign in method') {
    flow = createNewSignInFlow(phone) // restart flow
  }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling signInFlow.init() twice, or calling init() after code()/pass() already advanced the flow for the same connection.

Common situations: Retrying sign-in by calling init() again instead of creating a new SignInFlow; UI double-submitting the 'send code' button.

Related errors

• User is not signed in
• Account does not exist
• Sign in is not initialized
• Token revoked
• platform.status.Unauthorized

AI-assisted analysis of hcengineering/platform@63e28dc964 (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5e043cc21c2da8dd. Report an issue: GitHub.