What causes "tool-channel-room-error-invalid-action" in zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw?

Use one of the two exact values: 'create_room' (requires 'channel'; options: name, topic, invites, visibility, encryption) or 'invite_user' (requires 'channel', 'room_id', 'user_id').

zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw · error

tool-channel-room-error-invalid-action

tool-channel-room-error-invalid-action

Error message

tool-channel-room-error-invalid-action

What it means

ChannelRoomTool's execute parses the required 'action' string through ChannelRoomAction::from_str, which accepts exactly 'create_room' and 'invite_user' after trimming (channel_room.rs:24-25, 39-51). Any other value produces the localized error key tool-channel-room-error-invalid-action with the offending value interpolated. Unlike channel-not-found or create-failed, this error propagates as an Err from Tool::execute (the '?' at channel_room.rs:141) rather than a failed ToolResult.

Source

Thrown at crates/zeroclaw-tools/src/channel_room.rs:45

    fn as_str(self) -> &'static str {
        match self {
            Self::CreateRoom => Self::CREATE_ROOM,
            Self::InviteUser => Self::INVITE_USER,
        }
    }
}

impl FromStr for ChannelRoomAction {
    type Err = anyhow::Error;

    fn from_str(value: &str) -> Result<Self, Self::Err> {
        match value.trim() {
            Self::CREATE_ROOM => Ok(Self::CreateRoom),
            Self::INVITE_USER => Ok(Self::InviteUser),
            other => {
                let action = other.to_string();
                anyhow::bail!(tool_msg_with_args(
                    "tool-channel-room-error-invalid-action",
                    &[("action", &action)]
                ))
            }
        }
    }
}

pub struct ChannelRoomTool {
    channels: ChannelMapHandle,
    security: Arc<SecurityPolicy>,
}

impl ChannelRoomTool {
    pub fn new(security: Arc<SecurityPolicy>, channels: ChannelMapHandle) -> Self {
        Self { channels, security }
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 88bb9c8533)

Solutions

Use one of the two exact values: 'create_room' (requires 'channel'; options: name, topic, invites, visibility, encryption) or 'invite_user' (requires 'channel', 'room_id', 'user_id').
If driving an LLM, include parameters_schema()/description in the prompt so the model sees the enum.
Check the interpolated 'action' value in the error message to spot the exact typo, then correct casing/underscores.

Example fix

// before
let result = channel_room.execute(json!({
    "action": "create",
    "channel": "matrix"
})).await;

// after
let result = channel_room.execute(json!({
    "action": "create_room",
    "channel": "matrix",
    "name": "Ops"
})).await;

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const CHANNEL_ROOM_ACTIONS: [&str; 2] = ["create_room", "invite_user"];

fn valid_channel_room_action(action: &str) -> bool {
    CHANNEL_ROOM_ACTIONS.contains(&action.trim())
}

// before execute:
// anyhow::ensure!(valid_channel_room_action(&args["action"]), "invalid channel_room action");

Type guard

fn parse_channel_room_action(value: &str) -> Option<&'static str> {
    match value.trim() {
        "create_room" => Some("create_room"),
        "invite_user" => Some("invite_user"),
        _ => None,
    }
}

Try / catch

let action = required_string(&args, "action")?;
let Some(action) = parse_channel_room_action(action) else {
    return Ok(ToolResult {
        success: false,
        output: ToolOutput::default(),
        error: Some(format!(
            "Unknown action '{action}'. Valid: create_room, invite_user"
        )),
    });
};

Prevention

Validate the action string against the schema enum before calling the tool.
Feed ChannelRoomTool::parameters_schema() into LLM prompts so the model sees the enum values.
Note this error surfaces as Err from execute (not a failed ToolResult), so match on Result, not on success flag.

When it happens

Trigger: Invoking the channel_room tool with {"action": "create"}, {"action": "CreateRoom"}, {"action": "invite"}, or any casing/wording variant other than the exact snake_case tokens. Matching is trim-only, so case changes and synonyms are rejected.

Common situations: LLM callers improvising action names instead of following the schema enum (parameters_schema advertises ["create_room", "invite_user"] at channel_room.rs:83), prompt templates written from older docs, and script authors guessing 'new_room' or 'createRoom'.

Understand the failure class

Background: Invalid enum value errors: "Unknown type", "Invalid scope", "must be one of" — when a string is not on the library's allowed list — this error's family across 23 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw@88bb9c8533 (2026-08-23). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fa26202542eeeb15. Report an issue: GitHub.