openai/codex · error · MemoriesBackendError

ad-hoc note must not be empty

Error message

ad-hoc note must not be empty

What it means

MemoriesBackend::add_ad_hoc_note rejects note bodies that are empty. Notes must carry content; a blank note is treated as a caller bug and is not stored.

Source

Thrown at codex-rs/ext/memories/src/backend.rs:139

    File,
    Directory,
}

#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, Serialize, JsonSchema)]
#[schemars(deny_unknown_fields)]
pub struct MemorySearchMatch {
    pub path: String,
    pub match_line_number: usize,
    pub content_start_line_number: usize,
    pub content: String,
    pub matched_queries: Vec<String>,
}

#[derive(Debug, thiserror::Error)]
pub enum MemoriesBackendError {
    #[error("filename '{filename}' {reason}")]
    InvalidFilename { filename: String, reason: String },
    #[error("ad-hoc note must not be empty")]
    EmptyAdHocNote,
    #[error("ad-hoc note '{filename}' already exists")]
    AdHocNoteAlreadyExists { filename: String },
    #[error("path '{path}' {reason}")]
    InvalidPath { path: String, reason: String },
    #[error("cursor '{cursor}' {reason}")]
    InvalidCursor { cursor: String, reason: String },
    #[error("path '{path}' was not found")]
    NotFound { path: String },
    #[error("line_offset must be a 1-indexed line number")]
    InvalidLineOffset,
    #[error("max_lines must be a positive integer")]
    InvalidMaxLines,
    #[error("line_offset exceeds file length")]
    LineOffsetExceedsFileLength,
    #[error("path '{path}' is not a file")]
    NotFile { path: String },
    #[error("queries must not be empty or contain empty strings")]

View on GitHub (pinned to 339751715c)

Solutions

1. Check the note is non-empty after trimming before calling add_ad_hoc_note.
2. Fix the upstream producer that generated empty notes.
3. Return a validation message to the user instead of persisting nothing.

Example fix

// before
backend.add_ad_hoc_note(AddAdHocMemoryNoteRequest { filename, note: "   ".into() }).await?;

// after
if note.trim().is_empty() {
    return Err(MemoriesBackendError::EmptyAdHocNote.into());
}
backend.add_ad_hoc_note(AddAdHocMemoryNoteRequest { filename, note }).await?;

if request.note.trim().is_empty() {
    return Err(MemoriesBackendError::EmptyAdHocNote.into());
}

fn non_empty_note(note: &str) -> bool {
    !note.trim().is_empty()
}

When it happens

Trigger: add_ad_hoc_note with an empty or whitespace-only note string.

Common situations: Form submitted without text; a model emitting an empty memory; input trimmed down to nothing before the call.

Related errors

• filename '{filename}' {reason}
• path '{path}' {reason}
• line_offset must be a 1-indexed line number
• max_lines must be a positive integer
• path '{path}' is not a file

AI-assisted analysis of openai/codex@339751715c (2026-08-25). Data as JSON: /api/errors/789e3b85b1e3dccb. Report an issue: GitHub.