plandex-ai/plandex · error

failed to update context: %v

Error message

failed to update context: %v

What it means

After the conflict check, UpdateContext sends the update request via api.Client.UpdateContext(CurrentPlanId, CurrentBranch, req). Any server-side or transport failure is wrapped as 'failed to update context'. This is the actual mutation step of the context update.

Source

Thrown at app/cli/lib/context_update.go:268

			filesToLoad[context.FilePath] = context.Body
		}
	}
	for id := range deleteIds {
		context := contextsById[id]
		if context.ContextType == shared.ContextFileType {
			filesToLoad[context.FilePath] = ""
		}
	}

	hasConflicts, err = checkContextConflicts(filesToLoad)
	if err != nil {
		return UpdateContextResult{}, fmt.Errorf("failed to check context conflicts: %v", err)
	}

	if len(req) > 0 {
		res, apiErr := api.Client.UpdateContext(CurrentPlanId, CurrentBranch, req)
		if apiErr != nil {
			return UpdateContextResult{}, fmt.Errorf("failed to update context: %v", apiErr)
		}
		msg = res.Msg
	}

	if len(deleteIds) > 0 {
		res, apiErr := api.Client.DeleteContext(CurrentPlanId, CurrentBranch, shared.DeleteContextRequest{
			Ids: deleteIds,
		})
		if apiErr != nil {
			return UpdateContextResult{}, fmt.Errorf("failed to delete contexts: %v", apiErr)
		}
		msg += " " + res.Msg
	}

	return UpdateContextResult{
		HasConflicts: hasConflicts,
		Msg:          strings.TrimSpace(msg),
	}, nil

View on GitHub (pinned to e2d772072e)

Solutions

1. Read the wrapped apiErr for the HTTP status / server message
2. Re-authenticate on 401/403 (plandex sign-in) and retry
3. Reduce context size if the server rejected the payload (split large files, remove unneeded context)
4. Verify the plan and branch still exist (plandex plans / plandex branches) and the server is reachable

Example fix

// before
res, apiErr := api.Client.UpdateContext(CurrentPlanId, CurrentBranch, req)
if apiErr != nil { return UpdateContextResult{}, fmt.Errorf("failed to update context: %v", apiErr) }
// after (caller-side retry on transient failure)
res, err := lib.UpdateContext(params)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "failed to update context") {
    time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
    res, err = lib.UpdateContext(params)
}

// confirm auth and plan reachability before mutating
if _, err := api.Client.ListContext(CurrentPlanId, CurrentBranch); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("refresh auth/server state first: %w", err)
}

res, err := lib.UpdateContext(params)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "failed to update context") {
    if isAuthError(err) { return fmt.Errorf("re-run `plandex sign-in` then retry") }
    if isTransient(err) { time.Sleep(2 * time.Second); return retry() }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: api.Client.UpdateContext returns an error: plan/branch not found, auth token expired/invalid, network outage, server 5xx, request too large (context exceeds server limits), or plan locked by another operation.

Common situations: Expired session after long-running operations; pushing a huge file update exceeding server body limits; plan deleted from another terminal while updating; VPN/proxy blocking the daemon server.

Understand the failure class

Background: "API request failed": what wrapped HTTP errors from external APIs mean and how to find the real cause — this error's family across 29 libraries.

Related errors

• error listing contexts: %v
• error getting context body: %v
• error fetching users: %s
• error fetching pending invites: %s
• error getting custom model packs: %v

AI-assisted analysis of plandex-ai/plandex@e2d772072e (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8d37ed9e15db83be. Report an issue: GitHub.