invoke-ai/InvokeAI · error · ServiceInactiveException

The download service is not currently accepting requests. Pl

Error message

The download service is not currently accepting requests. Please call start() to initialize the service.

What it means

submit_download_job() raises ServiceInactiveException when the service flag _accept_download_requests is false, i.e. the service was never started, is stopping, or was stopped. Queueing a job into a dead service would silently lose work, so it fails fast.

Source

Thrown at invokeai/app/services/download/download_default.py:139

                self._queue.queue.clear()
            self.cancel_all_jobs()
            self._stop_event.set()
            for thread in self._worker_pool:
                thread.join()
            self._worker_pool.clear()

    def submit_download_job(
        self,
        job: DownloadJob,
        on_start: Optional[DownloadEventHandler] = None,
        on_progress: Optional[DownloadEventHandler] = None,
        on_complete: Optional[DownloadEventHandler] = None,
        on_cancelled: Optional[DownloadEventHandler] = None,
        on_error: Optional[DownloadExceptionHandler] = None,
    ) -> None:
        """Enqueue a download job."""
        if not self._accept_download_requests:
            raise ServiceInactiveException(
                "The download service is not currently accepting requests. Please call start() to initialize the service."
            )
        if job.id == -1:
            job.id = self._next_id()
        job.set_callbacks(
            on_start=on_start,
            on_progress=on_progress,
            on_complete=on_complete,
            on_cancelled=on_cancelled,
            on_error=on_error,
        )
        self._jobs[job.id] = job
        self._queue.put(job)

    def pause_job(self, job: DownloadJobBase) -> None:
        """Pause the indicated job, preserving partial downloads."""
        if job.status in [DownloadJobStatus.WAITING, DownloadJobStatus.RUNNING]:
            job.pause()

View on GitHub (pinned to 0b6a024f2f)

Solutions

Call service.start() before submitting any jobs
Check that startup completed (e.g. await app startup/lifespan) before issuing downloads
If the service was stopped, restart it with start() and resubmit
Review shutdown handlers to ensure stop() only runs at true shutdown

Example fix

// before
service.submit_download_job(job)
// after

service.start()
service.submit_download_job(job)

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

def service_accepting(s) -> bool:
    return bool(getattr(s, "_accept_download_requests", False))
# only submit when service_accepting(service) is True

Type guard

def is_active(s: object) -> bool:
    return bool(getattr(s, "_accept_download_requests", False))

Try / catch

try:
    service.submit_download_job(job)
except ServiceInactiveException:
    service.start()
    service.submit_download_job(job)

Prevention

Check _accept_download_requests (or a wrapper flag) before submitting
Ensure startup hooks complete before accepting user download requests
Block/queue requests during shutdown rather than submitting
Restart the service after any stop() if further downloads are expected

When it happens

Trigger: Calling submit_download_job() before start(), after stop(), or during a stop/start transition where _stop_event was set and requests rejected.

Common situations: A download request arrives during app shutdown, a consumer grabs the service before the startup routine ran, or stop() was called by a previous error handler and the service never restarted.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of invoke-ai/InvokeAI@0b6a024f2f (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ed4034983ec22239. Report an issue: GitHub.