From 43503a7ef15ee7a9034cb5e51046490d2f4d06b4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: shum <github.shum@liber.li>
Date: Wed, 3 Jun 2026 19:20:34 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] chat: CESimplexNameNotFound for name lookup misses
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connectPlanName now distinguishes "name not found" from "connection
link is invalid". CEInvalidConnReq's message ("Connection link is
invalid, possibly it was created in a previous version") was
misleading when a user typed @alice.simplex against a database that
simply has no contact by that name.

The two "missing prepared link" cases stay on CEInvalidConnReq —
the lookup found a row but the stored link is unusable, which is
closer to the existing semantics. The two truly-missing cases
(no contact found / no group found) move to CESimplexNameNotFound,
which also surfaces the name back to the client for a precise UX.
---
 src/Simplex/Chat/Controller.hs       | 1 +
 src/Simplex/Chat/Library/Commands.hs | 4 ++--
 src/Simplex/Chat/View.hs             | 1 +
 3 files changed, 4 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/Simplex/Chat/Controller.hs b/src/Simplex/Chat/Controller.hs
index 2145afbe1f..aa4f56a1a8 100644
--- a/src/Simplex/Chat/Controller.hs
+++ b/src/Simplex/Chat/Controller.hs
@@ -1368,6 +1368,7 @@ data ChatErrorType
   | CEChatNotStopped
   | CEChatStoreChanged
   | CEInvalidConnReq
+  | CESimplexNameNotFound {simplexName :: SimplexNameInfo}
   | CEUnsupportedConnReq
   | CEInvalidChatMessage {connection :: Connection, msgMeta :: Maybe MsgMetaJSON, messageData :: Text, message :: String}
   | CEConnReqMessageProhibited
diff --git a/src/Simplex/Chat/Library/Commands.hs b/src/Simplex/Chat/Library/Commands.hs
index 2c949a809c..71f013eb62 100644
--- a/src/Simplex/Chat/Library/Commands.hs
+++ b/src/Simplex/Chat/Library/Commands.hs
@@ -4179,7 +4179,7 @@ processChatCommand vr nm = \case
           Just PreparedContact {connLinkToConnect} -> pure (connLinkToConnect, CPContactAddress (CAPKnown ct))
           Nothing -> throwChatError CEInvalidConnReq
         Nothing -> case nameType of
-          NTContact -> throwChatError CEInvalidConnReq
+          NTContact -> throwChatError $ CESimplexNameNotFound ni
           NTPublicGroup -> do
             g_ <- withFastStore $ \db -> getGroupInfoBySimplexName db vr user ni
             case g_ of
@@ -4187,7 +4187,7 @@ processChatCommand vr nm = \case
                 Just PreparedGroup {connLinkToConnect = ccLink} ->
                   pure (ACCL SCMContact ccLink, CPGroupLink (GLPKnown g (BoolDef False) Nothing (ListDef [])))
                 Nothing -> throwChatError CEInvalidConnReq
-              Nothing -> throwChatError CEInvalidConnReq
+              Nothing -> throwChatError $ CESimplexNameNotFound ni
     connectWithPlan :: User -> IncognitoEnabled -> ACreatedConnLink -> ConnectionPlan -> CM ChatResponse
     connectWithPlan user@User {userId} incognito ccLink plan
       | connectionPlanProceed plan = do
diff --git a/src/Simplex/Chat/View.hs b/src/Simplex/Chat/View.hs
index 58b4c0c078..8251cf1f93 100644
--- a/src/Simplex/Chat/View.hs
+++ b/src/Simplex/Chat/View.hs
@@ -2625,6 +2625,7 @@ viewChatError isCmd logLevel testView = \case
     CEChatNotStopped -> ["error: chat not stopped"]
     CEChatStoreChanged -> ["error: chat store changed, please restart chat"]
     CEInvalidConnReq -> viewInvalidConnReq
+    CESimplexNameNotFound ni -> ["no contact or group with simplex name " <> plain (T.unpack (shortNameInfoStr ni))]
     CEUnsupportedConnReq -> [ "", "Connection link is not supported by the your app version, please ugrade it.", plain updateStr]
     CEInvalidChatMessage Connection {connId} msgMeta_ msg e ->
       [ plain $