What causes "cannot open domain socket for %q when status is %q" in wavetermdev/waveterm?

Ensure OpenDomainSocketListener is invoked exactly once during the connecting phase (guard with a 'wsh tried' flag)

cannot open domain socket for %q when status is %q

Error message

cannot open domain socket for %q when status is %q

What it means

OpenDomainSocketListener may only run while the SSH connection is in the Status_Connecting state; the check is done under the connection lock. If the connection has already moved past (Connected, Connecting-again, Disconnected, etc.), opening the wsh domain socket listener is refused with this error.

Source

Thrown at pkg/remote/conncontroller/conncontroller.go:276

func (conn *SSHConn) GetStatus() string {
	conn.lock.Lock()
	defer conn.lock.Unlock()
	return conn.Status
}

func (conn *SSHConn) GetName() string {
	// no lock required because opts is immutable
	return conn.Opts.String()
}

func (conn *SSHConn) OpenDomainSocketListener(ctx context.Context) error {
	conn.Infof(ctx, "running OpenDomainSocketListener...\n")
	allowed := WithLockRtn(conn, func() bool {
		return conn.Status == Status_Connecting
	})
	if !allowed {
		return fmt.Errorf("cannot open domain socket for %q when status is %q", conn.GetName(), conn.GetStatus())
	}
	client := conn.GetClient()
	randStr, err := utilfn.RandomHexString(16) // 64-bits of randomness
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("error generating random string: %w", err)
	}
	sockName := fmt.Sprintf("/tmp/waveterm-%s.sock", randStr)
	conn.Infof(ctx, "generated domain socket name %s\n", sockName)
	listener, err := client.ListenUnix(sockName)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("unable to request connection domain socket: %v", err)
	}
	conn.WithLock(func() {
		conn.DomainSockName = sockName
		conn.DomainSockListener = listener
	})
	conn.Infof(ctx, "successfully connected domain socket\n")
	go func() {

View on GitHub (pinned to a4447c1563)

Solutions

Ensure OpenDomainSocketListener is invoked exactly once during the connecting phase (guard with a 'wsh tried' flag)
Re-check conn.Status before calling and skip if it is not Status_Connecting
If wsh is needed on an already-connected connection, restart the connection (disconnect/reconnect) so it re-enters Status_Connecting

Example fix

// before
conn.OpenDomainSocketListener(ctx) // status may already be Connected
// after
if conn.GetStatus() != remote.Status_Connecting {
    return // or reconnect first
}
if err := conn.OpenDomainSocketListener(ctx); err != nil {
    log.Printf("wsh socket skipped: %v", err)
}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if conn.GetStatus() != remote.Status_Connecting {
    return fmt.Errorf("skip OpenDomainSocketListener: status is %s", conn.GetStatus())
}

Try / catch

err := conn.OpenDomainSocketListener(ctx)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "cannot open domain socket") {
    log.Printf("wsh socket setup skipped: %v", err) // not fatal; skip
}

Prevention

Invoke OpenDomainSocketListener only from the connecting phase, exactly once
Use a once-flag so tryEnableWsh cannot race itself
If already connected, reconnect rather than forcing the listener

When it happens

Trigger: tryEnableWsh calls OpenDomainSocketListener after the connection status changed from Status_Connecting — e.g. a duplicate enable attempt, or the connection finished connecting meanwhile.

Common situations: wsh auto-enable racing with connection establishment; calling tryEnableWsh twice on the same connection; attempting wsh enable on an already-connected or disconnected connection.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of wavetermdev/waveterm@a4447c1563 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/85abdacf72d0ee9f. Report an issue: GitHub.