paperclipai/paperclip · error · Error

Invalid worktree seed manifest at ${manifestPath}.

Error message

Invalid worktree seed manifest at ${manifestPath}.

What it means

The second stage of readWorktreeSeedManifest(): the file parsed as JSON but failed shape validation — source.instanceId / source.configPath must be strings, targetInstanceId non-empty, seedMode and phase must be known values, state in pending/running/verified/failed, attemptId non-empty, every diagnostics entry must have a known phase, status in started/succeeded/failed, string timestamp, and the verified-terminal block must be valid. This guards the loader against a manifest from an incompatible schema.

Source

Thrown at cli/src/commands/worktree.ts:1943

  );
  if (
    !value
    || typeof value !== "object"
    || value.version !== 2
    || !value.source
    || typeof value.source.instanceId !== "string"
    || typeof value.source.configPath !== "string"
    || typeof value.targetInstanceId !== "string"
    || value.targetInstanceId.length === 0
    || !isWorktreeSeedMode(String(value.seedMode ?? ""))
    || !WORKTREE_SEED_PHASES.includes(value.phase as WorktreeSeedPhase)
    || !["pending", "running", "verified", "failed"].includes(String(value.state ?? ""))
    || typeof value.attemptId !== "string"
    || value.attemptId.length === 0
    || !diagnosticsValid
    || !verifiedTerminalValid
  ) {
    throw new Error(`Invalid worktree seed manifest at ${manifestPath}.`);
  }
  return value as WorktreeSeedManifest;
}

export function markWorktreeSeedPending(input: {
  configPath: string;
  sourceConfigPath: string;
  targetInstanceId?: string;
  seedMode?: WorktreeSeedMode;
  now?: Date;
  diagnosticMessage?: string;
}): void {
  const markers = resolveWorktreeSeedMarkerPaths(input.configPath);
  const at = (input.now ?? new Date()).toISOString();
  writeWorktreeSeedManifest(markers.manifest, {
    version: 2,
    source: {
      instanceId: resolveSeedInstanceId(input.sourceConfigPath),

View on GitHub (pinned to a7e689b3c3)

Solutions

1. Remove the invalid manifest (and its lock marker if stale) and re-run the seed so a fresh valid manifest is written
2. Use the CLI version that matches the worktree/registration, or upgrade both together
3. Do not hand-edit seed manifest files; use the seed commands to change state

try {
  manifest = readWorktreeSeedManifest(configPath);
} catch {
  // schema mismatch (e.g. CLI version change): discard and reseed
  removeSeedMarkers(configPath);
  return ensureWorktreeSeeded({ configPath, ...opts });
}

Distinguish parse failure (error 9) from shape failure (this one) only for logging; both remediate the same way — remove markers and reseed.

When it happens

Trigger: Reading a manifest written by an older or newer CLI version with a different schema, a hand-edited manifest with a typo, or a partially written file that still parses as JSON but misses required fields.

Common situations: Downgrading/upgrading the CLI across a manifest schema change; editing markers to reset a stuck seed; merging worktree dirs with tools that mangled field values.

Understand the failure class

Background: Schema validation failed / invalid input schema: payload rejected because its shape doesn't match the expected schema — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

• Invalid worktree seed manifest at ${manifestPath}: ${error i
• Worktree seed manifest does not exist at ${markers.manifest}
• Worktree seed manifest target instance does not match the re
• Worktree seed source diagnostics changed while waiting for t
• Failed to create a pending worktree seed manifest.

AI-assisted analysis of paperclipai/paperclip@a7e689b3c3 (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fd8d7cd5e97669a6. Report an issue: GitHub.