What causes "object not found: %s" in wavetermdev/waveterm?

Fetch the object fresh via wstore.DBGet* before updating so you know it exists.

object not found: %s

Error message

object not found: %s

What it means

UpdateObject checks wstore.DBExistsORef before writing; if no object with the given ORef is stored it fails with 'object not found: <oref>'. UpdateObject only updates existing objects, it never creates them.

Source

Thrown at pkg/service/objectservice/objectservice.go:155

	return tsgenmeta.MethodMeta{
		ArgNames: []string{"uiContext", "waveObj", "returnUpdates"},
	}
}

func (svc *ObjectService) UpdateObject(uiContext waveobj.UIContext, waveObj waveobj.WaveObj, returnUpdates bool) (waveobj.UpdatesRtnType, error) {
	ctx, cancelFn := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), DefaultTimeout)
	defer cancelFn()
	ctx = waveobj.ContextWithUpdates(ctx)
	if waveObj == nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("update wavobj is nil")
	}
	oref := waveobj.ORefFromWaveObj(waveObj)
	found, err := wstore.DBExistsORef(ctx, *oref)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error getting object: %w", err)
	}
	if !found {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("object not found: %s", oref)
	}
	err = wstore.DBUpdate(ctx, waveObj)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error updating object: %w", err)
	}
	if (waveObj.GetOType() == waveobj.OType_Workspace) && (waveObj.(*waveobj.Workspace).Name != "") {
		wps.Broker.Publish(wps.WaveEvent{
			Event: wps.Event_WorkspaceUpdate})
	}
	if returnUpdates {
		return waveobj.ContextGetUpdatesRtn(ctx), nil
	}
	return nil, nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to a4447c1563)

Solutions

Fetch the object fresh via wstore.DBGet* before updating so you know it exists.
Use the create API if the object should be created rather than updated.
Detect deletion (e.g. block closed) and skip or re-create instead of updating.
Refresh client-side references from the backend to clear stale state.

Example fix

// before
wstore.DBUpdate(ctx, staleObj)
// after
existing, err := wstore.DBGetBlock(ctx, oid)
if err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("block %s no longer exists, skipping update", oid)
}
existing.View = staleObj.View
wstore.DBUpdate(ctx, existing)

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

exists, err := wstore.DBExistsORef(ctx, waveobj.ORefFromWaveObj(obj))
if err != nil || !exists {
    return fmt.Errorf("object %s does not exist; cannot update", oref)
}

Try / catch

if _, err := svc.UpdateObject(uiCtx, obj, true); err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "object not found") {
    // handle stale reference: refresh or re-create
}

Prevention

Re-fetch objects before mutating instead of caching long-lived references.
Subscribe to object-deletion events and invalidate local caches.
Use create APIs for new objects; update only known-existing ones.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling UpdateObject with a WaveObj whose OID was never persisted, or that was deleted (closed block, removed workspace) between fetch and update; passing a hand-constructed object with an invalid OID.

Common situations: Frontend holds a stale reference after the block was closed elsewhere; update races with object deletion; typos or truncated OIDs from external scripts.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of wavetermdev/waveterm@a4447c1563 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/86553c112bf5fd62. Report an issue: GitHub.