sinelaw/fresh · error

workspace is still being created and cannot be

Error message

workspace is still being created and cannot be ${verb}

What it means

This error is thrown by rejectPending() when an operation is attempted against an agent session that is still being created: it has a pending placeholder state but no durable stableId yet. A stableId is assigned once the session's window/build settles, so any verb (rename, file-into-folder, etc.) called before that would have nothing durable to operate on. The library refuses the call instead of silently applying it to a session that may be replaced by the pending build.

Solutions

1. Wait for workspace creation to complete (await the create call or poll until the session has a stableId) before invoking further verbs
2. Retry the operation after the creation/build event fires; the same call succeeds once stableId is assigned
3. If it's a local create, ensure the stableId path is used — local placeholders carry their durable id from birth, so only remote/abnormal flows should hit this

Example fix

// before
api.assignSessionToFolder(newWs.id, folderId);
// after
await orchestrator.waitForWorkspaceReady(newWs.id);
api.assignSessionToFolder(newWs.id, folderId);

const ready = (ws) => ws && ws.stableId != null && !ws.pending;
if (!ready(api.getWorkspace(id))) await waitForReady(id);

function isSessionReady(s) {
  return s != null && !s.pending && typeof s.stableId === "string" && s.stableId.length > 0;
}

try {
  api.renameWorkspace(id, name);
} catch (e) {
  if (String(e).includes("still being created")) {
    await waitForWorkspaceReady(id);
    api.renameWorkspace(id, name);
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling an orchestrator API (e.g. rename or assign-session-to-folder) against a workspace whose session record is a pending placeholder without a stableId — typically a remote create whose window is born by the connect step, or any call racing the workspace creation build.

Common situations: Automated scripts that create a workspace and immediately rename or file it without waiting for creation to complete; event handlers reacting to a session-appearing event fired before the build finishes; tests that don't await workspace readiness.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Invalid state transition" errors: "status must be X, actually Y", "already rejected/charging/uninstalled", "cannot ... while running" — what they mean when a library rejects your call — this error's family across 31 libraries.

Related errors

• workspace has no agent process to stop
• workspace cannot be
• no such folder
• folder name must not be empty
• no such folder

AI-assisted analysis of sinelaw/fresh@67894ca546 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/75a65d60c9d15414. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at crates/fresh-editor/plugins/orchestrator.ts:10576

    if (stable === target) return session;
  }
  return null;
}

/// A workspace still being created has no durable identity and no worktree
/// yet — the dock offers it Retry / Dismiss and nothing else, so the verbs
/// that organise a *real* workspace refuse it here rather than writing a name
/// or a folder assignment against a placeholder key that is about to vanish.
// Guard the verbs that need somewhere durable to record their result.
//
// A workspace still being created keys its name and its folder off the
// durable `stableId` it was born with, so both survive the build and both
// are safe to set while it runs. A *windowless* placeholder (a remote
// create, whose window is born by the connect) has no such id yet — there
// is nothing to file the change against, so it is still refused.
function rejectPending(s: AgentSession, verb: string): void {
  if (s.pending && !s.stableId) {
    throw new Error(`workspace is still being created and cannot be ${verb}`);
  }
}

/// Push folder-tree changes into an open dock. The tree's expansion set is
/// host-owned state seeded from the plugin's persisted set, so a folder
/// created or deleted behind the dock's back has to be re-seeded before the
/// re-render — the same two steps `submitCreateFolder` runs.
function refreshDockTree(): void {
  if (openPanel && dockMode) {
    openPanel.setExpandedKeys("sessions", Array.from(loadExpanded()));
  }
  refreshOpenDialog();
}

function apiRenameWorkspace(target: string | number, name?: string): boolean {
  const s = resolveWorkspace(target);
  if (!s) return false;
  rejectPending(s, "renamed");

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