khoj-ai/khoj · error · ValidationError

An Entry cannot be associated with both a user and an agent.

Error message

An Entry cannot be associated with both a user and an agent.

What it means

Entry.save() raises ValidationError when an Entry row has both user and agent foreign keys set. Entries must be scoped to exactly one owner: either a KhojUser or an Agent, never both.

Source

Thrown at src/khoj/database/models/__init__.py:803

    user = models.ForeignKey(KhojUser, on_delete=models.CASCADE, default=None, null=True, blank=True)
    agent = models.ForeignKey(Agent, on_delete=models.CASCADE, default=None, null=True, blank=True)
    embeddings = VectorField(dimensions=None)
    raw = models.TextField()
    compiled = models.TextField()
    heading = models.CharField(max_length=1000, default=None, null=True, blank=True)
    file_source = models.CharField(max_length=30, choices=EntrySource.choices, default=EntrySource.COMPUTER)
    file_type = models.CharField(max_length=30, choices=EntryType.choices, default=EntryType.PLAINTEXT)
    file_path = models.CharField(max_length=400, default=None, null=True, blank=True)
    file_name = models.CharField(max_length=400, default=None, null=True, blank=True)
    url = models.URLField(max_length=400, default=None, null=True, blank=True)
    hashed_value = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    corpus_id = models.UUIDField(default=uuid.uuid4, editable=False)
    search_model = models.ForeignKey(SearchModelConfig, on_delete=models.SET_NULL, default=None, null=True, blank=True)
    file_object = models.ForeignKey(FileObject, on_delete=models.CASCADE, default=None, null=True, blank=True)

    def save(self, *args, **kwargs):
        if self.user and self.agent:
            raise ValidationError("An Entry cannot be associated with both a user and an agent.")


class EntryDates(DbBaseModel):
    date = models.DateField()
    entry = models.ForeignKey(Entry, on_delete=models.CASCADE, related_name="embeddings_dates")

    class Meta:
        indexes = [
            models.Index(fields=["date"]),
        ]


class UserRequests(DbBaseModel):
    """Stores user requests to the server for rate limiting."""

    user = models.ForeignKey(KhojUser, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
    slug = models.CharField(max_length=200)

View on GitHub (pinned to ae229ca894)

Solutions

Decide the owner: set user=None when the entry belongs to an agent, or agent=None for user-owned entries.
Audit code paths that copy/duplicate entries (cloning often copies both FKs).
Add a form/serializer-level check so the constraint is caught before save.

Example fix

# before
Entry.objects.create(user=user, agent=agent, compiled_content=content)

# after
Entry.objects.create(user=None, agent=agent, compiled_content=content)

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

assert not (entry.user and entry.agent), "Entry cannot have both user and agent"
# before create:
Entry.objects.create(user=user if owner_is_user else None,
                     agent=agent if not owner_is_user else None,
                     compiled_content=content)

Type guard

def entry_has_single_owner(entry) -> bool:
    return bool(entry.user) != bool(entry.agent)

Try / catch

from django.core.exceptions import ValidationError
try:
    entry.save()
except ValidationError as e:
    if "both a user and an agent" in str(e):
        if keep_agent_owner:
            entry.user = None
        else:
            entry.agent = None
        entry.save()
    else:
        raise

Prevention

Decide ownership at creation time and set exactly one FK.
Review clone/copy code paths that duplicate both FKs.
Enforce single-owner in forms/serializers with a clean() hook.

When it happens

Trigger: Entry.objects.create(user=u, agent=a, ...) or setting entry.agent while entry.user is already set, then saving.

Common situations: Indexing code that attaches shared content to an agent while forgetting to clear the user field; bulk import scripts setting both ownership fields.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of khoj-ai/khoj@ae229ca894 (2026-08-27). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a479f411a21a2f83. Report an issue: GitHub.