wasmerio/wasmer · error · anyhow::Error

App deletion failed for an unknown reason

Error message

App deletion failed for an unknown reason

What it means

After issuing the delete_app mutation, the code checks res.success; if the backend reports the mutation did not succeed (without a more specific error), the library bails with 'App deletion failed for an unknown reason'. This is a catch-all for a failed mutation that returned no descriptive error.

Solutions

1. Verify the auth token has delete permissions for the app's namespace.
2. Check the app still exists and has no running instances/domains blocking deletion; stop instances first, then delete.
3. Retry the delete once and inspect the app with get_app to confirm current state (it may have already been deleted).
4. Report to Wasmer backend team if success=false persists with no error payload — the API should return a reason.

Example fix

// before
if !res.success {
    bail!("App deletion failed for an unknown reason");
}
// after (caller-side guard)
let app = get_app(&client, &app_id).await.ok();
if app.is_some() {
    delete_app(&client, &app_id).await?;
    if get_app(&client, &app_id).await.is_ok() {
        anyhow::bail!("app {app_id} still exists after deletion attempt");
    }
}

delete_app(&client, &app_id).await
    .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("app deletion failed: {e:#}"))?;
// verify deletion actually took effect
if get_app(&client, &app_id).await.is_ok() {
    anyhow::bail!("app {app_id} still exists after delete_app reported success");
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling delete_app where the GraphQL mutation executes but returns success=false — typically due to insufficient permissions, the app already being deleted, or backend-side constraints (running instances, attached domains).

Common situations: Token lacking delete rights on the namespace; deleting an app twice in a race; app has live instances that the backend refuses to tear down silently.

Related errors

• cron job ' ' not found
• invalid node type returned
• No value found for secret with name
• The page is non-empty
• app field empty

AI-assisted analysis of wasmerio/wasmer@8c4b9ee9d3 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f589e1b2d02fa867. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at lib/backend-api/src/query.rs:1978

        Err(GraphQLApiFailure::from_errors(
            "could not publish app",
            res.errors,
        ))
    }
}

/// Delete an app.
pub async fn delete_app(client: &WasmerClient, app_id: String) -> Result<(), anyhow::Error> {
    let res = client
        .run_graphql_strict(types::DeleteApp::build(types::DeleteAppVars {
            app_id: app_id.into(),
        }))
        .await?
        .delete_app
        .context("API did not return data for the delete_app mutation")?;

    if !res.success {
        bail!("App deletion failed for an unknown reason");
    }

    Ok(())
}

/// Get all namespaces accessible by the current user.
pub async fn user_namespaces(
    client: &WasmerClient,
) -> Result<Vec<types::Namespace>, anyhow::Error> {
    let user = client
        .run_graphql(types::GetCurrentUserWithNamespaces::build(
            types::GetCurrentUserWithNamespacesVars {
                namespace_role: None,
            },
        ))
        .await?
        .viewer
        .context("not logged in")?;

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