wavetermdev/waveterm · error

block %s is not a web block

Error message

block %s is not a web block

What it means

webGetRun only operates on web-view blocks. After fetching block info it checks blockInfo.Block.Meta[MetaKey_View] == "web"; if the target block is any other view type (terminal, preview, editor, etc.) it rejects the operation with this error naming the block OID.

Source

Thrown at cmd/wsh/cmd/wshcmd-web.go:65

	webCmd.AddCommand(webOpenCmd)
	webGetCmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&webGetInner, "inner", "", false, "get inner html (instead of outer)")
	webGetCmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&webGetAll, "all", "", false, "get all matches (querySelectorAll)")
	webGetCmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&webGetJson, "json", "", false, "output as json")
	webCmd.AddCommand(webGetCmd)
	rootCmd.AddCommand(webCmd)
}

func webGetRun(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
	fullORef, err := resolveBlockArg()
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("resolving blockid: %w", err)
	}
	blockInfo, err := wshclient.BlockInfoCommand(RpcClient, fullORef.OID, nil)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("getting block info: %w", err)
	}
	if blockInfo.Block.Meta.GetString(waveobj.MetaKey_View, "") != "web" {
		return fmt.Errorf("block %s is not a web block", fullORef.OID)
	}
	data := wshrpc.CommandWebSelectorData{
		WorkspaceId: blockInfo.WorkspaceId,
		BlockId:     fullORef.OID,
		TabId:       blockInfo.TabId,
		Selector:    args[0],
		Opts: &wshrpc.WebSelectorOpts{
			Inner: webGetInner,
			All:   webGetAll,
		},
	}
	output, err := wshclient.WebSelectorCommand(RpcClient, data, &wshrpc.RpcOpts{
		Route:   wshutil.ElectronRoute,
		Timeout: 5000,
	})
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to a4447c1563)

Solutions

1. Pass the OID of an actual web block (open a URL in Wave to create one)
2. Check the block's view meta: the block meta key "view" must equal "web"
3. Use the correct wsh subcommand for non-web blocks

Example fix

// before
wsh web get "#content" --blockid terminal-oid
// after
wsh web get "#content" --blockid web-block-oid

info, err := wshclient.BlockInfoCommand(RpcClient, oid, nil)
if err == nil && info.Block.Meta.GetString(waveobj.MetaKey_View, "") != "web" {
    return fmt.Errorf("block %s is not a web block", oid)
}

func isWebBlock(info *wshrpc.RespBlockInfo) bool {
    return info != nil && info.Block != nil && info.Block.Meta.GetString(waveobj.MetaKey_View, "") == "web"
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `wsh web get <selector> --blockid <oid>` where the OID points to a block whose meta view is not "web" (e.g. a terminal or preview block).

Common situations: Copy-pasting the wrong block id from `wsh ls`; assuming any block supports DOM selectors; targeting a webview block created before the view meta was set to "web".

Related errors

• badge oref must be a block or tab (got %q)
• unknown --view %q; try one of: term, web, preview, edit, sys
• --workspace and --window are mutually exclusive; specify onl
• cannot parse connection name: %w
• --conn parameter is required

AI-assisted analysis of wavetermdev/waveterm@a4447c1563 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/709ae6140dc4d443. Report an issue: GitHub.