laurent22/joplin · error

Cannot change the note lock while the session is locked

Error message

Cannot change the note lock while the session is locked

What it means

A generic guard in checkCanChangeLockState that blocks any lock-state change while a note lock session is active and locked (NoteLockSession.locked is true). Lock sessions exist to make a temporary lock atomic; mutating locks mid-session would break that invariant, so all enableNoteLock/disableNoteLock calls are rejected until the session is unlocked. It fires when a command is invoked during an active session, e.g. from the keyboard or a plugin, because the UI does not gate direct command invocation.

Solutions

1. Unlock the note-lock session (authenticate via the lock UI/API) before changing note lock states.
2. Re-run the workflow so a fresh unlocked session is established.
3. Check NoteLockSession.instance().isUnlocked() before each transition.
4. Shorten workflows to fit within the session timeout.

Example fix

// before
await joplin.commands.execute('disableNoteLock', noteId);
// after
if (NoteLockSession.instance().isUnlocked()) await joplin.commands.execute('disableNoteLock', noteId);

if (NoteLockSession.instance().isUnlocked()) await joplin.commands.execute('enableNoteLock', noteId);

const sessionUnlocked = (): boolean => NoteLockSession.instance().isUnlocked();

try { await disableNoteLock(id); } catch (e) { if (e.message.includes('session is locked')) await unlockSession(); else throw e; }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling enableNoteLock/disableNoteLock after the NoteLockSession was locked (e.g. timeout or explicit lock) without re-authenticating/unlocking it first.

Common situations: Long-running automation whose note-lock session expired mid-run; users who locked the session and then tried to modify another note's lock via commands/plugins.

Related errors

• Cannot change the note lock of a conflict note
• Cannot change the note lock of a deleted note
• Cannot change the note lock of a read-only note
• Cannot initialise synchroniser.
• Could not verify your identity

AI-assisted analysis of laurent22/joplin@981a03c5c9 (2026-09-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f1663c0eb8af9d04. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at packages/lib/services/noteLock/setNoteLockState.ts:20

import BaseItem from '../../models/BaseItem';
import ItemChange from '../../models/ItemChange';
import Note from '../../models/Note';
import Setting from '../../models/Setting';
import { itemIsReadOnlySync, ItemSlice } from '../../models/utils/readOnly';
import { NoteEntity } from '../database/types';
import eventManager, { EventName } from '../../eventManager';
import isNoteLockEnabled from './isNoteLockEnabled';
import NoteLockSession from './NoteLockSession';

// The UI hides the enable/disable actions for these cases, but the commands can also be
// invoked directly (keyboard, plugins), so the transitions fail closed here too.
const checkCanChangeLockState = (note: NoteEntity, noteId: string) => {
	if (!isNoteLockEnabled()) throw new Error('Note lock is not enabled');
	if (!note) throw new Error(`No such note: ${noteId}`);
	if (note.deleted_time) throw new Error('Cannot change the note lock of a deleted note');
	if (note.is_conflict) throw new Error('Cannot change the note lock of a conflict note');
	if (itemIsReadOnlySync(ModelType.Note, ItemChange.SOURCE_UNSPECIFIED, note as ItemSlice, Setting.value('sync.userId'), BaseItem.syncShareCache)) throw new Error('Cannot change the note lock of a read-only note');
	if (!NoteLockSession.instance().isUnlocked()) throw new Error('Cannot change the note lock while the session is locked');
};

const validationFields = ['id', 'is_locked', 'deleted_time', 'is_conflict', 'share_id'];

// These only validate and emit: the note screen listens for the event and persists the
// change with a scheduled gated save.
export const enableNoteLock = async (noteId: string) => {
	const note = await Note.load(noteId, { fields: validationFields });
	checkCanChangeLockState(note, noteId);
	if (note.is_locked) throw new Error(`Note is already locked: ${noteId}`);
	eventManager.emit(EventName.NoteLockNoteStateChange, { noteId, isLocked: true });
};

export const disableNoteLock = async (noteId: string) => {
	const note = await Note.load(noteId, { fields: validationFields });
	checkCanChangeLockState(note, noteId);
	if (!note.is_locked) throw new Error(`Note is not locked: ${noteId}`);
	eventManager.emit(EventName.NoteLockNoteStateChange, { noteId, isLocked: false });

View on GitHub (pinned to 981a03c5c9)