wavetermdev/waveterm · error

invalid oref string: %v

Error message

invalid oref string: %v

What it means

Returned when a string cannot be parsed as a valid oref (object reference), such as malformed syntax or an unknown reference format. The offending input is included via %v for diagnostics.

Source

Thrown at pkg/service/service.go:121

	if _, ok := jsonArg.(map[string]any); !ok {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot convert %T to %s", jsonArg, argType)
	}
	cmd, err := webcmd.ParseWSCommandMap(jsonArg.(map[string]any))
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error parsing command map: %w", err)
	}
	return cmd, nil
}

func convertSpecial(argType reflect.Type, jsonArg any) (any, error) {
	jsonType := reflect.TypeOf(jsonArg)
	if argType == orefRType {
		if jsonType.Kind() != reflect.String {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot convert %T to %s", jsonArg, argType)
		}
		oref, err := waveobj.ParseORef(jsonArg.(string))
		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid oref string: %v", err)
		}
		return oref, nil
	} else if argType == wsCommandRType {
		return convertWSCommand(argType, jsonArg)
	} else if argType == waveObjRType {
		if jsonType.Kind() != reflect.Map {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot convert %T to %s", jsonArg, argType)
		}
		return waveobj.FromJsonMap(jsonArg.(map[string]any))
	} else if argType == waveObjSliceRType {
		if jsonType.Kind() != reflect.Slice {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot convert %T to %s", jsonArg, argType)
		}
		sliceArg := jsonArg.([]any)
		nativeSlice := make([]waveobj.WaveObj, len(sliceArg))
		for idx, elem := range sliceArg {
			elemMap, ok := elem.(map[string]any)
			if !ok {

View on GitHub (pinned to a4447c1563)

Solutions

1. Read the wrapped cause for the exact parse failure.
2. Trim whitespace and verify the OID matches the expected Wave OID format.
3. Re-fetch the identifier from the backend instead of reconstructing it manually.

Example fix

// before
oref, err := waveobj.ParseORef("  " + oid + ":")
// after
oref, err := waveobj.ParseORef(strings.TrimSpace(oid))
if err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("bad oid %q: %v", oid, err)
}

oid = strings.TrimSpace(oid)
if oid == "" {
    return fmt.Errorf("empty oref")
}
if _, err := waveobj.ParseORef(oid); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("bad oref %q: %v", oid, err)
}

_, err := waveobj.ParseORef(s)
if err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("invalid oref %q: %w", s, err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Passing a malformed OID string to an ORef parameter - wrong length/charset, empty string, or a 'type:oid' composite with an unknown type prefix.

Common situations: Truncated or whitespace-contaminated OIDs copied from logs; OIDs mangled by URL decoding; type and ID concatenated with the wrong separator.

Understand the failure class

Background: "invalid id" errors: invalid identifier format — why libraries reject IDs before lookup, and how to fix them — this error's family across 37 libraries.

Related errors

• invalid object reference: %q
• oref is required
• badge oref must be a block or tab (got %q)
• unmatched bracket at position %d
• invalid index at position %d: %v

AI-assisted analysis of wavetermdev/waveterm@a4447c1563 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a29a968541ee1174. Report an issue: GitHub.