Skip to content

Error reasons ​

Every failure in the four packages carries a stable reason string with a prefix that says what kind of failure it is. Code matches on the string; the UI maps it to words. This page lists each reason the packages throw or report, collected from packages/*/src.

PrefixMeans
denied:A policy or the user said no. Retrying the same request will not help.
invalid:The input is malformed or names something that does not exist.
unavailable:Something needed is missing or unreachable right now: a backend, a server, a provider.

Thrown reasons are the message of an Error. A few carry a detail after a space (denied:scheme http:), so match on the part before the first space.

Thrown errors ​

ReasonPackageThrown byMeaning
invalid:pointer@kernlize/coredecodePointer, resolveBuiltinThe input is not, and does not contain, an naddr, nevent, note, 64-hex event id, coordinate or kernl:<id>; or it names a built-in applet the host does not ship.
unavailable:manifest@kernlize/corefetchManifestEvent, so Kernl.resolveA relay answered, in the hints, the apps tier or the super tier, and none returned the manifest event; or there was no usable relay to ask.
unavailable:network@kernlize/corefetchManifestEvent, so Kernl.resolveNo relay answered in either round: every one failed, or none answered within MANIFEST_TIMING.timeoutMs. The applet may well exist.
unavailable:blob@kernlize/coredefaultFetchBlob, resolveAppletNo server returned the artifact bytes. kehto's blob-unavailable maps here.
invalid:invalid-signature, invalid:invalid-manifest, invalid:aggregate-mismatch, invalid:blob-hash-mismatch, invalid:missing-index@kernlize/coreresolveAppletVerification failed. The part after invalid: is kehto's NappletResolutionErrorCode. Nothing runs.
invalid:artifact-hash@kernlize/coreresolveBuiltin, so Kernl.resolve of a kernl:<id> addressThe bytes an applet shipped with the host loaded are not the bytes the host pinned.
invalid:unresolved@kernlize/coreKernl.plan, Kernl.installThe summary was not produced by this shell's resolve, so no verified bytes are held for it and it cannot be run or installed.
unavailable:handler, unavailable:window, unavailable:delivery@kernlize/corecreateIntentDelivery, after a request was acceptedThe handler is no longer installed, the host did not open it, or it never held the receiving grant while delivery was retried. The asking applet was already told yes, so the user is told instead (The store and intents).
denied:blocked@kernlize/coreKernl.planThe user blocked this applet identity.
denied:nested-frame@kernlize/core, @kernlize/guardplanMount, so Kernl.plan; in the applet's realm, the insertion lockkehto's assertNappletHasNoFrame found an iframe, frame, frameset, object, embed, portal or fencedframe element in the verified markup, so the applet is not mounted. Inside a running applet kernl's insertion lock throws it as a TypeError when applet code tries to connect a node that is or contains a frame element. A frame created by element factory or HTML string is refused earlier by kehto's nested-context lock, as TypeError('kehto: napplets may not create nested browsing contexts') (D-014).
unavailable:frame-lock@kernlize/coreplanMount, so Kernl.planThe srcdoc kehto prepared does not contain the CSP meta and namespace prelude where kernl expects them, so the insertion lock cannot be placed after kehto's lock and the applet is not mounted. Seen only with a kehto release whose output changed.
invalid:frame-detached@kernlize/coremountApplet, so Kernl.mountThe frame has no contentWindow; it is not in the document.
invalid:domain@kernlize/coreGrants.allowDomainThe shell does not offer this domain in its current configuration.
denied:baseline-domain@kernlize/coreGrants.revokeDomainBaseline domains (shell, inc, theme, storage) cannot be revoked.
denied:plaintext-key-persistence@kernlize/coreKernlAccountManager.addAccountThe account type stores a raw secret key (PLAINTEXT_KEY_ACCOUNT_TYPES).
invalid:relay-url@kernlize/coreRelayTiers.add; mailboxTags, so AccountMailboxes.saveThe URL is not ws:// or wss://. A save refused this way signs and publishes nothing.
denied:read-only@kernlize/corethe outbox service's signer; AccountMailboxes.saveThe session cannot sign, so an outbox publish or a new inbox and outbox list is refused.
denied:consent@kernlize/corecreateSigningConsent, through the window signer (relay.publish) or the outbox gate (outbox.publish)An applet window asked to sign a destructive kind (any replaceable or addressable kind, 5 or 62) and the user denied or dismissed host.presentConsent. Nothing was signed or published.
denied:unknown-applet@kernlize/corecreateSigningConsentA destructive write from a window the shell did not mount.
denied:signed-out@kernlize/corecreateSigningConsentA destructive write (in practice an outbox.publish) while nobody is signed in.
invalid:event-kind@kernlize/corecreateSigningConsentThe event's kind is not a number.
unavailable:sign-in-required@kernlize/corecreateDefaultMessaging's createBackend; MessagingRegistry.enableprivate or legacy while no account is active (MESSAGING_UNAVAILABLE_REASONS).
unavailable:signer-cannot-encrypt@kernlize/corecreateDefaultMessaging's createBackend; MessagingRegistry.enableThe active account's signer has no nip44 (private) or no nip04 (legacy); a read-only account is the usual case.
unavailable:no-runtime@kernlize/corecreateDefaultMessaging's createBackend; MessagingRegistry.enableratchet registered by a host without a backend; createKernl always supplies one.
invalid:duplicate-provider@kernlize/messagingMessagingRegistry.registerA provider with this id is already registered.
invalid:unknown-provider@kernlize/messagingMessagingRegistry.enable, disable; the composite backendNo provider has this id, or a namespaced id, cursor or provider hint names no enabled provider.
unavailable:<reason>@kernlize/messagingMessagingRegistry.enableThe provider's availability() is false; <reason> is the bare word it reported.
invalid:provider-not-enabled@kernlize/messagingMessagingRegistry.setDefaultOnly an enabled provider can be moved to the top as the default.
denied:cancelled@kernlize/messagingcomposite sendThe user dismissed the question about which provider a reply should use; nothing was sent.
unavailable:no-default-provider@kernlize/messagingcomposite sendThe request names no conversation and no provider, and there is no enabled default.
invalid:no-recipients, invalid:unknown-conversation, unavailable:offline@kernlize/messagingcreateMemoryBackend sendNo recipient besides the owner; a conversationId the backend does not hold; the backend was created with available: false.
invalid:recipient, invalid:groups-unsupported, unavailable:offline@kernlize/corecreatePrivateMessagesBackend, createLegacyMessagesBackend sendThe recipient is not a public key; the legacy backend got more than one correspondent; no relay accepted the message.
invalid:locator@kernlize/bridgesparseLocatorNot a locator, or a malformed web, NZB, Soulseek or mail locator.
invalid:magnet-missing-hash@kernlize/bridgesparseLocatorA magnet without a urn:btih: hash.
invalid:locator-missing-<field>@kernlize/bridgesthe torrent, NZB, Soulseek and mail bridgesThe locator lacks infoHash, url, user, path or address.
invalid:nzb-not-https@kernlize/bridgesthe NZB backend from createHandoffBackendsThe NZB document is not served over https, so it is not handed off and nothing is opened.
invalid:duplicate-bridge <id>, invalid:scheme-taken <scheme>@kernlize/bridgesBridgeRegistry.registerA bridge with this id, or one serving this scheme, is already registered.
unavailable:no-bridge@kernlize/bridgesBridgeRegistry.resolveNo bridge serves the scheme.
unavailable:no-backend@kernlize/bridgesthe four backend-driven bridgesThe bridge was created without a backend. availability().reason is the bare no-backend. In the composed shell the four have hand-off backends; a registry built from createDefaultBridges() without a handoff opener reports this.
denied:bridge@kernlize/bridgesBridgeRegistry.resolveThe registry's authorize hook returned false. The composed shell has none.
denied:scheme <protocol>@kernlize/bridgesHTTP bridgeThe URL's scheme is not in allowedSchemes.
denied:private-address <host>, denied:private-address <host> -> <ip>@kernlize/bridgesHTTP bridgeThe host is a blocked name or a private literal; the second form comes from a resolveHost result.
denied:too-many-redirects@kernlize/bridgesHTTP bridgeMore than maxRedirects hops.
denied:redirect-unverifiable@kernlize/bridgesHTTP bridgeIn a browser, fetch with redirect: 'manual' returns an opaque redirect whose target the bridge cannot read, so it cannot re-check the next hop and refuses. In Node and on servers redirects are followed and checked.
invalid:redirect@kernlize/bridgesHTTP bridgeA redirect without a usable Location.
denied:too-large@kernlize/bridgesHTTP bridgecontent-length or the streamed body exceeds maxBytes.
unavailable:timeout, unavailable:aborted, unavailable:network <message>@kernlize/bridgesHTTP bridgeThe time limit expired, the caller cancelled, or fetch failed for another reason. In a browser a CORS refusal and a network failure are the same TypeError, so both surface as unavailable:network Failed to fetch.
unavailable:network <type> response@kernlize/bridgesHTTP bridgeAny status-0 answer other than an opaque redirect, for example unavailable:network opaque response.

@kernlize/guard throws nothing outside the applet realm. Its decisions are events.

Guard event reasons ​

The guard reports each non-pass decision as a GuardEvent with a disposition (defer, reject, quarantine, flag) and one of these reasons. They reach the user through kernl.guard.events$ and the shell's guard panel. The numbers are per profile; see Guard.

For an applet's port traffic these layers decide each envelope through kehto's filterNappletMessage before the runtime sees it (D-020). A reject drops the envelope, and the applet gets no reply. A defer with reason hidden:<class> holds it until the window is visible; a flood:burst defer on port traffic drops it. A quarantine revokes the binding, which also stops the envelope that crossed the limit and discards what the window held. For the window-level hello, defer and reject hold or drop it.

kehto's runtime firewall refuses what it handles over the per-class rates, the unfocused budget or the startup burst with an error whose message starts firewall:, and reports each refusal through onFirewallEvent; kernl turns those into guard events with the reasons in the last three rows, without the applet's message.

ReasonEmitted byDispositionMeaning
flood:burstingress guard (ingress-guard.ts)deferMore messages in one second than ingressBurst allows. A hello is held; a port envelope other than a control one is dropped.
flood:queue-fullingress guardrejectMore than ingressQueue messages over the burst. A hello is dropped; a port envelope other than a control one is dropped.
flood:quarantineingress guardquarantinequarantineThreshold messages in a rolling 10 s, or any message from a window already quarantined. The binding is revoked.
flood:hidden-resourceingress guardquarantineA hidden window made more resource.* requests than hiddenResourceAllowance. The binding is revoked.
size:<class>ingress guardrejectThe envelope is over the size cap for resource:bytes, relay:subscribe or outbox:subscribe. In the composed shell the envelope is dropped before dispatch: nothing is fetched and the applet gets no reply.
hidden:<class>guard pipeline (pipeline.ts)deferA non-control port envelope from a window that is not visible. It is held and handled once the window is visible.
defer:queue-fullvisibility gate (visibility-gate.ts)rejectThe hidden window already holds deferQueue envelopes; this one is dropped.
rate:<class>focus firewall (focus-firewall.ts), or the runtime firewall through onFirewallEventreject, or flag when the rate's action is flagkehto's rate:opclass, rate:global or rate:default rule fired; the reason names the class, for example rate:relay:publish. From the focus firewall the envelope is dropped; from the runtime it is refused with a firewall: error.
matcher:<id>focus firewallrejectA kehto content matcher fired; the rule id is passed through unchanged. The guard's own matchers are size:resource:bytes, size:relay:subscribe and size:outbox:subscribe, and in the composed shell they cannot fire: the ingress guard rejects the same envelopes with size:<class> first, and the focus firewall sees only what it passed. A caller that runs the focus firewall alone can see matcher:size:<class>.
policy:denyfocus firewallrejectThe applet's policy in the guard's own firewall configuration is deny. kernl sets no policy there, so this appears only if a caller set one.
prompt:<ruleId>focus firewallrejectkehto's engine asked for a prompt (for example prompt:policy:ask); the guard has no UI and treats it as a rejection.
flood:startupruntime firewall, through onFirewallEventrejectMore operations in a window's first second than the profile's ingressBurst; the runtime refuses the excess with a firewall: error.
runtime:<ruleId>runtime firewall, through onFirewallEventreject, or flag when it passed with a flagAny other runtime firewall decision, with kehto's rule id, for example runtime:policy:deny.

Revocation reasons ​

KernlHost.onRevoked(windowId, reason) receives kehto's revocation reasons (window-message, second-hello, invalid-hello, second-load, port-closed, deferred-overflow, host) or quarantine when the guard quarantined the window. See Architecture.

MIT licensed. Protocol authority: NIP-5D (nostr-protocol/nips PR #2303) and the NAPs (napplet/naps).