Post-message resulted in receive_imf failure

[link2xt]

Core 2.42.0.

Got this device message:
"❌ Failed to receive a message: Message Msg#989113 does not exist. Core version v2.42.0. Please report this bug to delta@merlinux.eu or https://support.delta.chat/."

The log shows that it is a post-message:

2026-02-19T14:41:17.553Z        core/event              INFO    ""      683     "src/receive_imf.rs:537: Receiving message \"76ca7eb5-d919-40c3-9860-404a119aeec3@localhost\", seen=false..."
2026-02-19T14:41:17.553Z        core/event              INFO    ""      683     "src/receive_imf.rs:1284: Message 76ca7eb5-d919-40c3-9860-404a119aeec3@localhost is a post-message (pre-message exists already, so trash after replacing attachment)."
2026-02-19T14:41:17.556Z        core/event              DEBUG   ""      683     "MsgsChanged"   {"chatId":1969,"kind":"MsgsChanged","msgId":989112}
2026-02-19T14:41:17.556Z        renderer/stores/MessageListStore        DEBUG   ""      "DC_EVENT_MSGS_CHANGED" "changed message seems to be message we already know"
2026-02-19T14:41:17.556Z        core/event              DEBUG   ""      683     "ChatlistChanged"       {"kind":"ChatlistChanged"}
2026-02-19T14:41:17.557Z        renderer/helpers/ChatList       DEBUG   ""      "useChatList: ChatlistChanged, will refetch chatlist"
2026-02-19T14:41:17.557Z        core/event              DEBUG   ""      683     "ChatlistItemChanged"   {"chatId":1969,"kind":"ChatlistItemChanged"}
2026-02-19T14:41:17.557Z        renderer/helpers/ChatList       DEBUG   ""      "useChatList: query params are initial, we'll use the cached version of the chat list"
2026-02-19T14:41:17.565Z        core/event              INFO    ""      683     "src/receive_imf.rs:2344: Message has 1 parts and is assigned to chat #Chat#Trash."
2026-02-19T14:41:17.565Z        renderer/helpers/ChatList       DEBUG   ""      "useChatList: fetching chatlist"
2026-02-19T14:41:17.569Z        renderer/stores/MessageListStore        DEBUG   ""      "messageChanged changed the state"
2026-02-19T14:41:17.569Z        core/event              WARNING ""      683     "src/imap.rs:1378: receive_imf error: Message Msg#989113 does not exist."

I have 160 KB limit configured, so it was possibly downloaded as a result of manually clicking "Download" on the message.

If there is no idea how to reproduce it, we need to improve the logging inside of receive_imf and reveiew places where messages are loaded to use Message::load_from_db_optional where it is possible that message may already be deleted.

I got this error on desktop, so it is not related to any possible concurrency e.g. on iOS due to having multiple processes accessing the database.

Maybe what happened is that I got pre-message, deletion request for the message and then post-message for the already deleted message.

[r10s]

beside @nicodh reporting the same issue, i got the this error recently on iOS, also core 2.43, no limit for "Auto-Download Messages".

i also cannot say what has happend, it was while the app was in background for quite some time, a notification arrived (that probably force partly download), and then i went to foreground, seeing a partial download of a webxdc. not totally sure if i tapped "download" or not (was in a hurry, outside, wanted to answer smth else quickly :) - but at the end the webxdc was there.

[link2xt]

I also got this problem with core 2.38, so it is not that new, either it is already released in 2.35 or was introduced in 2.36, 2.37 or 2.38:

❌ Failed to receive a message: Message Msg#979097 does not exist. Core version v2.38.0. Please report this bug to [delta@merlinux.eu](mailto:delta@merlinux.eu) or https://support.delta.chat/.

[nicodh]

In my case it was Android with a 2.42.0 core and I have no download limit set

[link2xt]

I opened #7875 to add context to errors.