oraios/serena · error · ValueError

No active project

Error message

No active project

What it means

The dashboard's get-memory handler (`_get_memory`) runs a task that calls `agent.get_active_project()`. When no project has been activated, it returns None and the handler raises ValueError('No active project'). Serena requires an active project context before any memory can be loaded.

Solutions

1. Activate a project first (call the activate_project tool / equivalent agent API), then retry get_memory.
2. Start Serena from within the project directory so a project is auto-activated.
3. Check for an active project client-side before calling memory endpoints.
4. Verify the project path is correct and loads — an activation failure can leave no active project.

Example fix

// before
callTool("get_memory", {memory_name: "notes"});
// after
if (!hasActiveProject()) callTool("activate_project", {path: "/repo"});
callTool("get_memory", {memory_name: "notes"});

active = agent.get_active_project() if hasattr(agent, "get_active_project") else None
if active is None:
    activate_project(project_path)  # or call the activate_project tool first

def has_active_project(agent) -> bool:
    return agent.get_active_project() is not None

try:
    resp = requests.get(f"{dashboard}/get_memory", params={"memory_name": name})
    resp.raise_for_status()
except ValueError:
    activate_project(project_path)
    resp = requests.get(f"{dashboard}/get_memory", params={"memory_name": name})

When it happens

Trigger: Calling the dashboard /get_memory endpoint while the agent has no active project — e.g. before `activate_project` was ever called, or after switching/shutdown cleared the active project.

Common situations: Tools or clients invoking memory endpoints on a fresh Serena session without activating a project; sessions started outside a project directory; the active project failing to load at startup.

Related errors

• Config overview not yet available
• Invalid language server identifier
• Invalid language server identifier
• Serena config file not found
• Serena config file path not set

AI-assisted analysis of oraios/serena@7fcbca7e62 (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b1f6f83486f24bac. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/serena/dashboard.py:661

            all_languages = [lang.value for lang in LanguageServerId.iter_all(include_experimental=True)]

            # Filter out already added languages for the active project
            project = self._agent.get_active_project()
            if project:
                current_languages = [lang.value for lang in project.project_config.language_servers]
                available_languages = [lang for lang in all_languages if lang not in current_languages]
            else:
                available_languages = all_languages

            return ResponseAvailableLanguages(languages=sorted(available_languages))

        return self._agent.execute_task(run, logged=False)

    def _get_memory(self, request_get_memory: RequestGetMemory) -> ResponseGetMemory:
        def run() -> ResponseGetMemory:
            project = self._agent.get_active_project()
            if project is None:
                raise ValueError("No active project")

            content = project.memory_manager.load_memory(request_get_memory.memory_name)
            return ResponseGetMemory(content=content, memory_name=request_get_memory.memory_name)

        return self._agent.execute_task(run, logged=False)

    def _save_memory(self, request_save_memory: RequestSaveMemory) -> None:
        def run() -> None:
            project = self._agent.get_active_project()
            if project is None:
                raise ValueError("No active project")
            project.memory_manager.save_memory(request_save_memory.memory_name, request_save_memory.content, is_tool_context=False)

        self._agent.execute_task(run, logged=True, name="SaveMemory")

    def _delete_memory(self, request_delete_memory: RequestDeleteMemory) -> None:
        def run() -> None:
            project = self._agent.get_active_project()

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