stablyai/orca · warning · Error

Refusing to remove non-Orca command at ${status.commandPath}

Error message

Refusing to remove non-Orca command at ${status.commandPath}.

What it means

Thrown by CliInstaller.remove() when status.state is 'conflict'. Orca will not delete a command at the target path that it did not create, to prevent removing another application's binary.

Source

Thrown at src/main/cli/cli-installer.ts:229

    return this.getStatus()
  }

  async remove(): Promise<CliInstallStatus> {
    const status = await this.getStatus()
    if (!status.supported || !status.commandPath || !status.launcherPath || !status.installMethod) {
      return status
    }
    if (status.state === 'not_installed') {
      await this.removeLegacyLinuxCommandIfManaged(status.launcherPath)
      if (this.platform === 'win32') {
        await this.removeWindowsPathEntry(dirname(status.commandPath))
        return this.getStatus()
      }
      return status
    }
    if (status.state === 'conflict') {
      throw new Error(`Refusing to remove non-Orca command at ${status.commandPath}.`)
    }
    if (status.state === 'stale') {
      throw new Error(`Refusing to remove a command not owned by Orca at ${status.commandPath}.`)
    }

    if (status.installMethod === 'symlink') {
      await this.removeSymlink(status.commandPath)
      await this.removeLegacyLinuxCommandIfManaged(status.launcherPath)
    } else if (this.isWindowsPackagedBundledCommand(status.commandPath, status.launcherPath)) {
      await this.removeWindowsPathEntry(dirname(status.commandPath))
    } else {
      await unlink(status.commandPath)
      await this.removeWindowsPathEntry(dirname(status.commandPath))
    }

    return this.getStatus()
  }

View on GitHub (pinned to 1136503c6a)

Solutions

Verify the file at status.commandPath is not Orca's: check for the managed marker.
If you want it gone, manually remove it: 'rm <status.commandPath>'.
If it's a tool you want to keep, no action is needed — Orca correctly refused to touch it.

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const status = await installer.getStatus()
if (status.state === 'conflict') {
  // Do not call remove(); it's not Orca's command
  showInfo('The command at the target path is not owned by Orca and will not be removed.')
  return
}

Try / catch

try {
  await installer.remove()
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof Error && error.message.includes('Refusing to remove non-Orca command')) {
    // Safe no-op; the command belongs to another tool
  } else { throw error }
}

Prevention

Check status.state before calling remove().
Document that Orca will never remove foreign commands — this is by design.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling remove() when a non-Orca command exists at commandPath. The status probe determined the existing file lacks Orca's managed marker, so it's classified as a conflict rather than an Orca-owned command.

Common situations: Same as install conflict: another tool named 'orca' exists at the target path. A user is trying to unregister Orca's CLI but a different tool is now at that location.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of stablyai/orca@1136503c6a (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9110442d794d0fe6. Report an issue: GitHub.