Issue is not claimed by

Error message

Issue ${issueId} is not claimed by ${this.formatClaimant(claimant)}

What it means

ClaimService.release(issueId, claimant) found a claim for the issue, but the stored claimant does not match the claimant argument (compared via isSameClaimant). Ownership is enforced on release so a random agent cannot free another agent's claim; only the holder (or an explicit steal/handoff flow) can change claim state. The message names the caller that attempted the release.

Solutions

Release with the exact same Claimant (agentId + type) that acquired the claim — persist the claimant used at claim() time
If a different agent must take over, use the steal/handoff flows (markStealable/steal, requestHandoff) instead of release()
Inspect the stored claim via getIssueStatus(issueId).claimant to see who actually owns it

Example fix

// before
await claims.release(issueId, { agentId: 'coordinator', type: 'coordinator' }); // not the owner -> throws

// after
const claim = await claims.getIssueStatus(issueId);
if (!claim) return;
await claims.release(issueId, claim.claimant); // release as the recorded owner

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

const claim = await claims.getIssueStatus(issueId);
if (claim && isSameClaimant(claim.claimant, me)) {
  await claims.release(issueId, me);
}

Try / catch

try {
  await claims.release(issueId, me);
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof Error && e.message.includes('is not claimed by')) {
    // not the owner: read claim.claimant via getIssueStatus and either act as that claimant or use the steal/handoff flow
  } else throw e;
}

Prevention

Persist the exact Claimant used at claim() time and reuse it for release()
Give agents stable, persisted agentIds so restarts preserve ownership
For taking over someone else's claim use the steal/handoff APIs, never release()

When it happens

Trigger: Releasing with a Claimant whose agentId/type differs from the one used in claim() — e.g. a restarted worker got a new agentId, a typo'd or default claimant, or a supervisor trying release() instead of the steal API.

Common situations: Agent identity not persisted across restarts so the 'same' worker returns with a different id, copy-pasted cleanup code using the coordinator's Claimant instead of the worker's, tests reusing one Claimant object for multiple roles.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of ruvnet/ruflo@fa13ee4ad6 (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/824cf393bfa60381. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at v3/@claude-flow/cli/src/services/claim-service.ts:306

    this.emitEvent({
      type: 'issue:claimed',
      timestamp: now,
      issueId,
      claimant,
      previousClaimant: existing?.claimant,
    });

    return { success: true, claim };
  }

  async release(issueId: string, claimant: Claimant): Promise<void> {
    const claim = this.claims.get(issueId);
    if (!claim) {
      throw new Error(`Issue ${issueId} is not claimed`);
    }

    if (!this.isSameClaimant(claim.claimant, claimant)) {
      throw new Error(`Issue ${issueId} is not claimed by ${this.formatClaimant(claimant)}`);
    }

    this.claims.delete(issueId);
    this.stealableInfo.delete(issueId);
    await this.saveClaims();

    this.emitEvent({
      type: 'issue:released',
      timestamp: new Date(),
      issueId,
      claimant,
    });
  }

  // ==========================================================================
  // Handoffs
  // ==========================================================================

View on GitHub (pinned to fa13ee4ad6)