wandb/openui · error · TypeError

Unkown error: ${String(error)}

Error message

Unkown error: ${String(error)}

What it means

register() catches errors from the WebAuthn flow; if the message contains 'User already exists' it returns false, otherwise it rethrows. If the caught value is NOT an Error instance (else branch) it wraps it in a TypeError with 'Unkown error: <string>'. This happens when a non-Error (string, DOMException-like value, undefined) is thrown or rejected.

Source

Thrown at frontend/src/api/openui.ts:189

			true
		)) as PublicKeyCredentialCreationOptions
		console.log('registration response:', publicKey.user, typeof publicKey.user)
		publicKey.user.id = asArrayBuffer(publicKey.user.id as unknown as string)
		publicKey.challenge = asArrayBuffer(
			publicKey.challenge as unknown as string
		)
		const creds = await navigator.credentials.create({ publicKey })
		await post(username, creds as PublicKeyCredential, true)
		return true
	} catch (error) {
		if (error instanceof Error) {
			// TODO: this is hacky but works
			if (error.toString().includes('User already exists')) {
				return false
			}
			throw error
		} else {
			throw new TypeError(`Unkown error: ${String(error)}`)
		}
	}
}

export async function auth(username: string): Promise<boolean> {
	const publicKey = (await getPublicKey(
		username
	)) as PublicKeyCredentialRequestOptions
	console.log('auth get response:', publicKey)
	publicKey.challenge = asArrayBuffer(publicKey.challenge as unknown as string)
	if (
		publicKey.allowCredentials !== undefined &&
		publicKey.allowCredentials.length > 0
	) {
		publicKey.allowCredentials[0].id = asArrayBuffer(
			publicKey.allowCredentials[0].id as unknown as string
		)
		// TODO: if a user attempts to re-register they'll be given the option

View on GitHub (pinned to 42d7ab4ab6)

Solutions

1. Normalize caught values with `error instanceof Error ? error : new Error(String(error))` before branching.
2. Keep the 'User already exists' substring check but base it on String(error).
3. Fix the typo 'Unkown' → 'Unknown' when surfacing the message.
4. Log the raw thrown value to identify which browser/path produces non-Error rejections.

Example fix

// before
throw new TypeError(`Unkown error: ${String(error)}`)
// after
throw error instanceof Error
  ? error
  : new Error(`Unknown error: ${String(error)}`)

if (typeof username !== 'string' || username.length === 0) throw new Error('Username required')

function isError(v: unknown): v is Error {
  return v instanceof Error
}

try {
  await register(username)
} catch (e) {
  if (String(e).includes('User already exists')) return false
  if (e instanceof Error) throw e
  throw new Error(`Unknown error: ${String(e)}`)
}

When it happens

Trigger: The WebAuthn ceremony rejects with a non-Error value (e.g. NotAllowedError is fine, but some browsers/polyfills throw strings); or getPublicKey/post reject with undefined.

Common situations: User cancels the passkey prompt in browsers that throw non-Error values; older Safari/Chrome WebAuthn quirks; promise rejection with a plain string from a custom layer.

Related errors

• Unexpected response ${r.status}: ${await r.text()}
• Unexpected response ${req.status}: ${await req.text()}
• No credential ID found
• body.error.message

AI-assisted analysis of wandb/openui@42d7ab4ab6 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/eb9e0b0f2b6d0ce0. Report an issue: GitHub.