nexu-io/open-design · error · Error

Vela image ${command} returned non-ready asset status ${stat

Error message

Vela image ${command} returned non-ready asset status ${status ?? 'missing'}

What it means

Thrown after confirming asset_id when asset.status is not the string 'ready'. Vela's image gen/edit is synchronous; a non-ready status means the asset exists but is not in a deliverable state (e.g. 'failed', 'pending', 'error'). The actual status (or 'missing' if absent) is shown.

Source

Thrown at apps/daemon/src/media/vela.ts:392

        ? ['--aspect-ratio', profile.aspectRatio, '--resolution', profile.resolution]
        : []),
      ...quality,
      '--output',
      outputPath,
      '--json',
    ];
    const stdout = await runCommand(args, {
      ...velaWorkspaceCommandOptions(input.workspaceId),
      timeoutMs: VELA_IMAGE_TIMEOUT_MS,
    });
    const asset = parseJsonObject(stdout, `image ${command}`);
    const assetId = nonEmptyString(asset.asset_id);
    const status = nonEmptyString(asset.status);
    const kind = nonEmptyString(asset.kind);
    const mime = nonEmptyString(asset.mime_type);
    if (!assetId) throw new Error(`Vela image ${command} response is missing asset_id`);
    if (status !== 'ready') {
      throw new Error(`Vela image ${command} returned non-ready asset status ${status ?? 'missing'}`);
    }
    if (kind !== 'image') {
      throw new Error(`Vela image ${command} returned unexpected kind ${kind ?? 'missing'}`);
    }
    if (!mime?.startsWith('image/')) {
      throw new Error(`Vela image ${command} returned invalid mime_type ${mime ?? 'missing'}`);
    }
    const bytes = await readNonEmptyOutput(outputPath, `image ${command}`);
    return {
      bytes,
      // The tier is part of what the user was charged for, so name it when it
      // was chosen and say so plainly when the server's default decided.
      providerNote: `vela/${wireModel} · ${
        profile ? `${profile.aspectRatio} ${profile.resolution}` : 'model default profile'
      } · ${requestedQuality ?? 'model default quality'} · ${bytes.length} bytes`,
      suggestedExt: extensionForImageMime(mime),
    };
  } finally {

View on GitHub (pinned to 5be4028344)

Solutions

Read the embedded status value — 'failed'/'error' usually means retry with a different prompt
For 'pending'/'moderated', retry after a short delay
Run the Vela command directly to see the full asset envelope and any stderr detail
If the status is unexpected for the CLI version, check for a schema change

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

function assetIsReady(asset: Record<string, unknown>): boolean {
  return asset.status === 'ready';
}

Type guard

function isReadyAsset(asset: unknown): boolean {
  return typeof asset === 'object' && asset !== null
    && (asset as { status?: unknown }).status === 'ready';
}

Try / catch

try {
  if (!isReadyAsset(asset)) throw new Error(`non-ready status: ${asset.status ?? 'missing'}`);
} catch (err) {
  if (/non-ready/.test(String((err as Error).message))) {
    // retry for pending/moderated, or fail with a user-facing message for failed/error
  } else throw err;
}

Prevention

Inspect the status value to decide retry vs fail — pending may resolve, failed usually will not
Capture the full asset envelope so moderation or error reasons are diagnosable
Add retries only for transient statuses, not for 'failed'/'error'

When it happens

Trigger: Vela image gen/edit JSON has a status field that is anything other than 'ready' — for example 'failed', 'error', 'pending', 'moderated', or an empty/missing status.

Common situations: Upstream generation failed (content policy, model error) but Vela still returned an asset envelope; transient moderation hold; CLI emitted a pre-ready status; Vela bug.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of nexu-io/open-design@5be4028344 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b11ae0b894b8f645. Report an issue: GitHub.