wavetermdev/waveterm · error

no WAVETERM_TABID env var set

Error message

no WAVETERM_TABID env var set

What it means

wsh createblock must know which tab to place the new block in, taken from the WAVETERM_TABID environment variable via getTabIdFromEnv. If the variable is unset or empty, createBlockRun returns this error instead of making an RPC call.

Source

Thrown at cmd/wsh/cmd/wshcmd-createblock.go:39

	RunE:    createBlockRun,
	PreRunE: preRunSetupRpcClient,
	Hidden:  true,
}

func init() {
	createBlockCmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&createBlockMagnified, "magnified", "m", false, "create block in magnified mode")
	rootCmd.AddCommand(createBlockCmd)
}

func createBlockRun(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
	viewName := args[0]
	var metaSetStrs []string
	if len(args) > 1 {
		metaSetStrs = args[1:]
	}
	tabId := getTabIdFromEnv()
	if tabId == "" {
		return fmt.Errorf("no WAVETERM_TABID env var set")
	}
	meta, err := parseMetaSets(metaSetStrs)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	meta["view"] = viewName
	data := wshrpc.CommandCreateBlockData{
		TabId: tabId,
		BlockDef: &waveobj.BlockDef{
			Meta: meta,
		},
		Magnified: createBlockMagnified,
		Focused:   true,
	}
	oref, err := wshclient.CreateBlockCommand(RpcClient, data, nil)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("create block failed: %v", err)
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to a4447c1563)

Solutions

1. Run the command inside a Wave terminal block so WAVETERM_TABID is set
2. Export WAVETERM_TABID manually if invoking from a script: export WAVETERM_TABID=<tabid>
3. Avoid env-scrubbing wrappers (sudo -E, env -i, docker exec without -e)
4. Use the block controller/other RPC entry points when operating outside a tab context

Example fix

// before
ssh host 'wsh createblock editor'   # no WAVETERM_TABID on remote shell
// after
# run inside a Wave block:
wsh createblock editor
// or
export WAVETERM_TABID="$TAB_ID" && wsh createblock editor

if [ -z "$WAVETERM_TABID" ]; then
  echo "WAVETERM_TABID not set — run inside a Wave terminal block" >&2
  exit 1
fi

out, err := runWsh("createblock", view)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(out, "WAVETERM_TABID") {
	// fall back: prompt for or look up the tab id, then retry with env set
	cmd.Env = append(os.Environ(), "WAVETERM_TABID="+tabId)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `wsh createblock` outside a Wave terminal block (plain SSH session, external terminal, CI shell) where WAVETERM_TABID is not exported.

Common situations: Running wsh over a raw ssh connection instead of inside a Wave block; a shell that scrubbed the environment (sudo, env -i, docker exec); running in a new tmux/screen session spawned before entering Wave.

Understand the failure class

Background: "environment variable is not set" and "Missing keys in environment" errors: what missing required env var messages mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

• WAVETERM_TABID environment variable not set
• create block failed: %v
• no WAVETERM_TABID env var set
• no WAVETERM_TABID env var set
• opening secrets UI: %w

AI-assisted analysis of wavetermdev/waveterm@a4447c1563 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2540d6506be06af4. Report an issue: GitHub.