louislam/dockge · error · ValidationError

Console is not enabled.

Error message

Console is not enabled.

What it means

Thrown as a ValidationError in the mainTerminal handler when server.config.enableConsole is false. The console feature is disabled in the server configuration, so the handler refuses to attach a main terminal. This is an intentional configuration gate, not a bug.

Source

Thrown at backend/agent-socket-handlers/terminal-socket-handler.ts:43

                if (terminal instanceof InteractiveTerminal) {
                    //log.debug("terminalInput", "Terminal found, writing to terminal.");
                    terminal.write(cmd);
                } else {
                    throw new Error("Terminal not found or it is not a Interactive Terminal.");
                }
            } catch (e) {
                callbackError(e, callback);
            }
        });

        // Main Terminal
        agentSocket.on("mainTerminal", async (terminalName : unknown, callback) => {
            try {
                checkLogin(socket);

                // Throw an error if console is not enabled
                if (!server.config.enableConsole) {
                    throw new ValidationError("Console is not enabled.");
                }

                // TODO: Reset the name here, force one main terminal for now
                terminalName = "console";

                if (typeof(terminalName) !== "string") {
                    throw new ValidationError("Terminal name must be a string.");
                }

                log.debug("mainTerminal", "Terminal name: " + terminalName);

                let terminal = Terminal.getTerminal(terminalName);

                if (!terminal) {
                    terminal = new MainTerminal(server, terminalName);
                    terminal.rows = 50;
                    log.debug("mainTerminal", "Terminal created");
                }

View on GitHub (pinned to f809ae192b)

Solutions

1. Set enableConsole: true in the server config and restart the server if console access is required.
2. If console should stay disabled, stop emitting 'mainTerminal' from the client and hide the console UI.
3. Confirm the server actually loaded the config file you edited (check startup logs/config path).
4. Ensure clients handle the callback error gracefully and show a 'console disabled' message.

Example fix

// before (server config)
{ "enableConsole": false }
// after
{ "enableConsole": true }

if (!serverConfig.enableConsole) { disableConsoleUI(); } else { socket.emit("mainTerminal", "console", cb); }

const consoleAvailable = (cfg) => cfg?.enableConsole === true;

socket.emit("mainTerminal", "console", (res) => { if (res?.error) showConsoleDisabledMessage(res.error); });

When it happens

Trigger: Emitting the 'mainTerminal' socket event while the server was started with enableConsole set to false (or omitted and defaulting to disabled) in its config file.

Common situations: Deployments that disabled console for security/hardening but still have clients (or old UI sessions) requesting the main terminal; config files copied from environments with different settings.

Related errors

• Terminal name must be a string.
• Command must be a string.
• Terminal not found or it is not a Interactive Terminal.
• Stack name must be a string.
• Service name must be a string.

AI-assisted analysis of louislam/dockge@f809ae192b (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/431963a9d96d0528. Report an issue: GitHub.