paperclipai/paperclip · error

No managed install was found to roll back.

Error message

No managed install was found to roll back.

What it means

Thrown by rollbackManagedInstall when readInstallManifest returns null — i.e. there is no install manifest file in the managed install store (the store directory is missing or never had manifest.json written). Without a manifest there is no record of the current payload, so rollback has nothing to operate on. This is distinct from having a manifest but no previous entry.

Source

Thrown at cli/src/commands/update.ts:130

    return leftPart < rightPart ? -1 : 1;
  }
  return 0;
}

export function resolveUpdateRequest(manifest: InstallManifest | null, options: Pick<UpdateOptions, "canary" | "latest" | "version">): { spec: string; channel: InstallChannel; explicit: boolean } {
  const selected = Number(Boolean(options.canary)) + Number(Boolean(options.latest)) + Number(Boolean(options.version));
  if (selected > 1) throw new Error("Choose only one of --latest, --canary, or --version.");
  if (options.version) return { spec: options.version.trim(), channel: "pinned", explicit: true };
  if (options.canary) return { spec: "canary", channel: "canary", explicit: true };
  if (options.latest) return { spec: "latest", channel: "latest", explicit: true };
  if (manifest?.channel === "pinned") return { spec: manifest.version, channel: "pinned", explicit: false };
  const channel = manifest?.channel === "canary" ? "canary" : "latest";
  return { spec: channel, channel, explicit: false };
}

export function rollbackManagedInstall(paths = resolveInstallStorePaths()): InstallManifest {
  const manifest = readInstallManifest(paths);
  if (!manifest) throw new Error("No managed install was found to roll back.");
  const target = manifest.previous[0];
  if (!target) throw new Error("No previous managed payload is available for rollback.");
  if (!fs.existsSync(target.payloadPath)) throw new Error(`Previous payload is missing: ${target.payloadPath}`);
  const current: InstallRecord = { source: manifest.source, version: manifest.version, channel: manifest.channel, payloadPath: manifest.payloadPath, repo: manifest.repo, ref: manifest.ref, sha: manifest.sha, installedAt: manifest.installedAt };
  const next: InstallManifest = { schemaVersion: manifest.schemaVersion, ...target, previous: [current, ...manifest.previous.slice(1)].slice(0, 2) };
  const oldTarget = fs.readlinkSync(paths.currentPath);
  flipCurrentAtomic(target.payloadPath, paths);
  try { writeInstallManifestAtomic(next, paths); } catch (error) { flipCurrentAtomic(path.resolve(paths.cliRoot, oldTarget), paths); throw error; }
  return next;
}

async function defaultConfirm(message: string): Promise<boolean> {
  if (!process.stdin.isTTY || !process.stdout.isTTY) return false;
  const answer = await p.confirm({ message, initialValue: false });
  return !p.isCancel(answer) && answer === true;
}
function emit(options: UpdateOptions, value: Record<string, unknown>, message: string): void { if (options.json) console.log(JSON.stringify(value, null, 2)); else console.log(message); }

View on GitHub (pinned to 67001ec6eb)

Solutions

1. Reinstall a managed CLI with `paperclipai install` to regenerate the manifest and store, then updates/rollbacks will work again.
2. Restore the missing manifest.json from backup into the managed install store root.
3. If the store is unrecoverable, remove the broken store directory entirely and run `paperclipai install` clean.

import fs from 'node:fs';
import { resolveInstallStorePaths, readInstallManifest } from '../install-store.js';
function hasManagedManifest(): boolean {
  const paths = resolveInstallStorePaths();
  return fs.existsSync(paths.cliRoot) && readInstallManifest(paths) !== null;
}
// if (!hasManagedManifest()) { /* reinstall before rollback */ }

try {
  rollbackManagedInstall(paths);
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof Error && error.message === 'No managed install was found to roll back.') {
    // nothing to roll back — reinstall a managed payload instead
    await installCommand(/* ... */);
  } else throw error;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling `paperclipai update --rollback`, or rollbackManagedInstall directly, on a system where the managed install store does not exist or its manifest.json was deleted/corrupted. detectInstallMode may still report 'managed' if the symlink resolves, but the manifest read fails.

Common situations: Manifest file manually deleted. Store directory partially wiped (only the payload survives). First-time install that never completed manifest write. Running rollback after the store was moved to a new PAPERCLIP_HOME without copying the manifest.

Related errors

• No previous managed payload is available for rollback.
• ${payloadLabel} failed service validation and was rolled bac
• ${payloadLabel} failed service validation and was rolled bac
• --rollback is only available for managed installs.
• Managed git install metadata is incomplete.

AI-assisted analysis of paperclipai/paperclip@67001ec6eb (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0274c18e84bb8039. Report an issue: GitHub.