home-assistant/core · error · UnknownUser

UnknownUser

Error message

UnknownUser

What it means

Home Assistant raises UnknownUser when a service call context carries a user_id that no longer resolves to a user in hass.auth. In the assist_satellite ask_question handler, the user record is fetched with hass.auth.async_get_user(call.context.user_id) and a None result triggers this error. It means the acting user was deleted or the context was fabricated/stale after the call was already accepted by the service layer.

Source

Thrown at homeassistant/components/assist_satellite/__init__.py:113

                    vol.Optional("start_media_id"): _media_id_validator,
                    vol.Optional("preannounce", default=True): bool,
                    vol.Optional("preannounce_media_id"): _media_id_validator,
                    vol.Optional("extra_system_prompt"): str,
                }
            ),
            cv.has_at_least_one_key("start_message", "start_media_id"),
        ),
        "async_internal_start_conversation",
        [AssistSatelliteEntityFeature.START_CONVERSATION],
    )

    async def handle_ask_question(call: ServiceCall) -> dict[str, Any]:
        """Handle a Show View service call."""
        satellite_entity_id: str = call.data[ATTR_ENTITY_ID]
        if call.context.user_id:
            user = await hass.auth.async_get_user(call.context.user_id)
            if user is None:
                raise UnknownUser(
                    context=call.context,
                    permission=POLICY_CONTROL,
                    user_id=call.context.user_id,
                )
            if not user.permissions.check_entity(satellite_entity_id, POLICY_CONTROL):
                raise Unauthorized(
                    context=call.context,
                    permission=POLICY_CONTROL,
                    user_id=call.context.user_id,
                    perm_category=CAT_ENTITIES,
                )

        satellite_entity: AssistSatelliteEntity | None = component.get_entity(
            satellite_entity_id
        )
        if satellite_entity is None:
            raise HomeAssistantError(
                f"Invalid Assist satellite entity id: {satellite_entity_id}"

View on GitHub (pinned to 58a3fdb3ea)

Solutions

1. Identify which automation/script/user context is making the call (check the error's context.user_id in the log traceback)
2. Recreate the user or update the automation to run under a valid user
3. Invalidate long-lived tokens belonging to the deleted user via the UI (Security > Long-lived access tokens)
4. If writing a custom integration, pass a real Context obtained from hass.auth, not a synthesized user_id

user = await hass.auth.async_get_user(context.user_id) if context.user_id else None
if context.user_id and user is None:
    # do not issue the service call; the user no longer exists
    _LOGGER.warning("Refusing call for deleted user %s", context.user_id)

try:
    await hass.services.async_call(..., context=context)
except UnknownUser:
    # stale user context: refresh tokens / drop stored contexts
    raise

When it happens

Trigger: Calling assist_satellite.ask_question via the WebSocket/API with a context whose user_id belongs to a removed user; a long-lived token whose owner account was deleted; an automation or script replaying a stored context after user deletion.

Common situations: User account deleted while automations still reference it; restored database backup with stale auth tokens; test scripts that hand-craft ServiceCall contexts instead of using hass.services.async_call with a real context.

Related errors

• Unauthorized
• Unauthorized
• Invalid Assist satellite entity id: {satellite_entity_id}
• No answer from satellite
• User is not active

AI-assisted analysis of home-assistant/core@58a3fdb3ea (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ccd66f0dbb1e1873. Report an issue: GitHub.