stablyai/orca · error

Unable to load files

Error message

Unable to load files

What it means

Thrown by MobileFileExplorerPanel.loadDirectory when files.readDir failed with a method-unavailable error on a root load, the legacy files.list fallback was attempted, and the legacy call ALSO failed (legacy.ok === false) with no usable error message. This is the legacy-fallback exhaustion path — neither the modern nor the legacy directory-listing RPC worked.

Source

Thrown at mobile/src/files/MobileFileExplorerPanel.tsx:142

            })
            if (legacy.ok) {
              if (
                !isCurrentDirectoryLoad(
                  directoryLoadRevisionsRef.current,
                  scopeRef.current,
                  loadToken
                )
              ) {
                return
              }
              const legacyResult = (legacy as RpcSuccess).result as LegacyFilesListResult
              setDirectoryCache(directoryCacheFromFileList(legacyResult.files))
              // Why: the capped list silently omits files past the cap — keep
              // the legacy explorer's "Showing first 5000" note.
              setLegacyListTruncated(legacyResult.truncated)
              return
            }
            throw new Error(
              legacy.error?.message || response.error?.message || 'Unable to load files'
            )
          }
          throw new Error(response.error?.message || 'Unable to load files')
        }
        if (
          !isCurrentDirectoryLoad(directoryLoadRevisionsRef.current, scopeRef.current, loadToken)
        ) {
          return
        }
        const entries = (response as RpcSuccess).result as MobileDirEntry[]
        if (rootLoad) {
          setLegacyListTruncated(false)
        }
        setDirectoryCache((prev) => ({
          ...prev,
          [relativePath]: { entries }
        }))

View on GitHub (pinned to 1136503c6a)

Solutions

  1. Verify the host connection is still 'connected' (connState) and the worktreeId still exists via worktree.show before retrying loadDirectory.
  2. Use forceReconnect to re-establish the host client, then trigger a root reload.
  3. Check the desktop host logs — both RPCs failing usually indicates a host-side worktree or filesystem problem rather than a client issue.
  4. Surface the underlying error code to the user instead of the generic tail so support can diagnose.

Example fix

// before
throw new Error(
  legacy.error?.message || response.error?.message || 'Unable to load files'
)

// after — keep the codes for diagnostics
const code = legacy.error?.code ?? response.error?.code
throw new Error(
  legacy.error?.message || response.error?.message || `Unable to load files${code ? ` (${code})` : ''}`
)
Defensive patterns

Strategy: fallback

Validate before calling

// Confirm the host is connected and the worktree exists before reload
if (!client || connState !== 'connected') return
const exists = await client.sendRequest('worktree.show', { worktree: `id:${worktreeId}` })
if (!exists.ok || !(exists as any).result?.worktree) return

Type guard

function isFileListUnavailableError(err: unknown): boolean {
  return err instanceof Error && err.message === 'Unable to load files'
}

Try / catch

try {
  await loadDirectory('')
} catch (err) {
  if (isFileListUnavailableError(err)) {
    setError('Could not load files. Reconnecting...')
    await forceReconnect()
    await loadDirectory('')
    return
  }
  throw err
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: At root relativePath, client.sendRequest('files.readDir', ...) returns method_not_found / 'not available to mobile clients', then client.sendRequest('files.list', ...) also returns {ok:false}. Reached only when isMobileMethodUnavailableError matched on the first error AND rootLoad is true.

Common situations: The paired desktop is in a degraded state where both RPC methods reject (e.g., worktree unmounted, host mid-shutdown); the host build is so old that files.list also has a problem; the worktreeId is invalid and both RPCs refuse it.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of stablyai/orca@1136503c6a (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4a57aa65c0bc3f58. Report an issue: GitHub.