What causes "invalid ContainerStatus: %s" in vxcontrol/pentagi?

Translate raw Docker states to ContainerStatus constants (e.g. exited -> stopped, dead -> failed, removing -> deleted).

invalid ContainerStatus: %s

Error message

invalid ContainerStatus: %s

What it means

ContainerStatus.Valid() in backend/pkg/server/models/containers.go accepts only the ContainerStatus constants (running, stopped, deleted, failed, plus the initial state defined above the excerpt). Any other value fails the GORM Validate callback with this message.

Source

Thrown at backend/pkg/server/models/containers.go:34

	ContainerStatusDeleted  ContainerStatus = "deleted"
	ContainerStatusFailed   ContainerStatus = "failed"
)

func (s ContainerStatus) String() string {
	return string(s)
}

// Valid is function to control input/output data
func (s ContainerStatus) Valid() error {
	switch s {
	case ContainerStatusStarting,
		ContainerStatusRunning,
		ContainerStatusStopped,
		ContainerStatusDeleted,
		ContainerStatusFailed:
		return nil
	default:
		return fmt.Errorf("invalid ContainerStatus: %s", s)
	}
}

// Validate is function to use callback to control input/output data
func (s ContainerStatus) Validate(db *gorm.DB) {
	if err := s.Valid(); err != nil {
		db.AddError(err)
	}
}

type ContainerType string

const (
	ContainerTypePrimary   ContainerType = "primary"
	ContainerTypeSecondary ContainerType = "secondary"
)

func (t ContainerType) String() string {

View on GitHub (pinned to ea665308ba)

Solutions

Translate raw Docker states to ContainerStatus constants (e.g. exited -> stopped, dead -> failed, removing -> deleted).
Use one of the exact ContainerStatus values defined in containers.go.
Fix casing and whitespace in the submitted value.
Update integrations that predate a status rename to the current constant set.

Example fix

// before
{"status": "exited"}
// after
{"status": "stopped"}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

function dockerStatusToContainerStatus(d: string): string | null {
  const map = { created: "created", running: "running", paused: "stopped", exited: "stopped", dead: "failed", removing: "deleted" };
  return (map as Record<string, string>)[d] ?? null; // null means it needs manual mapping
}
const status = dockerStatusToContainerStatus(rawStatus);
if (!status) throw new Error(`unmapped docker status: ${rawStatus}`);

Type guard

function isContainerStatus(v: unknown): v is "created" | "running" | "stopped" | "deleted" | "failed" {
  return ["created", "running", "stopped", "deleted", "failed"].includes(v as string);
}

Try / catch

try {
  await api.createContainer({ name, status: rawStatus });
} catch (err) {
  if (String(err).includes("invalid ContainerStatus")) {
    // fall back to a safe, always-valid state after translating
    await api.createContainer({ name, status: "stopped" });
  } else throw err;
}

Prevention

Always translate raw Docker engine states through a mapping table before calling the API.
Keep the mapping table next to the ContainerStatus constants and update both together.
Log unmapped states instead of passing them through.
Test integrations with containers that end in each Docker state.

When it happens

Trigger: Writing or filtering a sandbox container record with a status like "exited", "killed", "paused", or empty string; passing raw Docker engine status strings straight into the API.

Common situations: Mapping Docker daemon status (created/running/paused/restarting/removing/exited/dead) directly into PentAGI's model; client-side assumption of extra states; typos or casing mismatches in tool/integration code.

Understand the failure class

Background: Invalid enum value errors: "Unknown type", "Invalid scope", "must be one of" — when a string is not on the library's allowed list — this error's family across 23 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of vxcontrol/pentagi@ea665308ba (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c3bdc54633550dfb. Report an issue: GitHub.