overleaf/overleaf · error · NotOriginalImporterError

You are not the user who originally imported this file

Error message

You are not the user who originally imported this file

What it means

Branch of LinkedFilesController.handleError mapping NotOriginalImporterError to 400: only the user who originally imported the linked file may refresh it; a different logged-in user attempted the refresh.

Source

Thrown at services/web/app/src/Features/LinkedFiles/LinkedFilesController.mjs:242

      res.status(422)
      if (error.cause instanceof FileTooLargeError) {
        plainTextResponse(res, 'File too large')
      } else {
        plainTextResponse(
          res,
          `Your URL could not be reached (${
            error.info?.status || error.cause?.info?.status
          } status code). Please check it and try again.`
        )
      }
    } else if (error instanceof InvalidUrlError) {
      res.status(422)
      plainTextResponse(
        res,
        'Your URL is not valid. Please check it and try again.'
      )
    } else if (error instanceof NotOriginalImporterError) {
      res.status(400)
      plainTextResponse(
        res,
        'You are not the user who originally imported this file'
      )
    } else if (error instanceof FeatureNotAvailableError) {
      res.status(400)
      plainTextResponse(res, 'This feature is not enabled on your account')
    } else if (error instanceof RemoteServiceError) {
      if (error.info?.statusCode === 403) {
        res.status(400).json({ relink: true })
      } else {
        res.status(502)
        plainTextResponse(res, 'The remote service produced an error')
      }
    } else if (error instanceof FileCannotRefreshError) {
      res.status(400)
      plainTextResponse(res, 'This file cannot be refreshed')
    } else if (error.message === 'project_has_too_many_files') {

View on GitHub (pinned to 28ad3b03b7)

Solutions

1. Ask the original importer to refresh the file
2. Re-create the linked file under the current user so they become the importer

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at services/web/app/src/Features/LinkedFiles/LinkedFilesController.mjs:242 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of overleaf/overleaf@28ad3b03b7 (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/15193eb41b968a9e. Report an issue: GitHub.