siyuan-note/siyuan · error

snapshot version is not a document

Error message

snapshot version is not a document

What it means

After resolving the file ID to a repo file, loadSnapshotDocVersion verifies the file's stored path ends with .sy (case-insensitive). Snapshot diffs are only supported for documents; if the snapshot object is an asset or any non-document file, this error is thrown.

Solutions

1. Use the file ID of a document snapshot (path ending in .sy) from the repo file listing.
2. Filter repo files by .sy path suffix before requesting version diffs.
3. For asset history, use the asset history APIs instead of the document version loader.
4. Re-select the history entry in the UI to get the correct document file ID.

Example fix

// before
loadDocVersion(fileID_of_asset.png) -> "snapshot version is not a document"
// after
loadDocVersion(fileID_of_document.sy)

// JS: only request diffs for .sy snapshot entries
if (!file.path.toLowerCase().endsWith(".sy")) return;
return fetchPost("/api/history/loadDocVersion", { fileID: file.id });

function isDocSnapshot(file) { return typeof file.path === "string" && file.path.toLowerCase().endsWith(".sy"); }

catch (e) { if (e.message === "snapshot version is not a document") { selectDocumentSnapshotInstead(); } else { throw e; } }

When it happens

Trigger: loadDocVersion in snapshot mode with a fileID whose repo file path is not a .sy document, e.g. an asset snapshot or index file stored in the repo.

Common situations: Passing an asset's file ID where a document's file ID is expected (IDs copied from the wrong history entry); older snapshot entries for assets being diffed; a script iterating repo files and assuming all are documents.

Understand the failure class

Background: "is not a compatible type" / "cannot merge" errors: when a value's type doesn't match what the library requires — this error's family across 65 libraries.

Related errors

• attribute view snapshot context is ambiguous
• Conf.Language(26)
• snapshot file ID is required
• attr must be a string or null (got %T)
• attribute view history context is ambiguous

AI-assisted analysis of siyuan-note/siyuan@9f775e8a12 (2026-09-19). Data as JSON: /api/errors/edb67d03a078a7f7. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at kernel/model/history_diff.go:413

}

func loadSnapshotDocVersion(fileID string) (ret *loadedDocVersion, err error) {
	if "" == fileID {
		return nil, errors.New("snapshot file ID is required")
	}
	if 1 > len(Conf.Repo.Key) {
		return nil, errors.New(Conf.Language(26))
	}
	repo, err := newRepository()
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}
	file, err := repo.GetFile(fileID)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}
	if !strings.HasSuffix(strings.ToLower(file.Path), ".sy") {
		return nil, errors.New("snapshot version is not a document")
	}
	repoPath := strings.TrimPrefix(file.Path, "/")
	pathParts := strings.SplitN(repoPath, "/", 2)
	data, err := repo.OpenFile(file)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}
	ciphertext := util.IsCiphertext(data)
	if ciphertext {
		if len(pathParts) < 2 || !ast.IsNodeIDPattern(pathParts[0]) || !IsEncryptedBox(pathParts[0]) {
			return nil, errors.New("encrypted snapshot document is missing valid notebook context")
		}
		HoldBoxReadLock(pathParts[0])
		defer ReleaseBoxReadLock(pathParts[0])
		dek, unlockErr := GetDEKIfUnlocked(pathParts[0])
		if unlockErr != nil {
			return nil, errors.New(Conf.Language(314))
		}

View on GitHub (pinned to 9f775e8a12)