What does HRESULT 0x80041813 (CI_E_WORKID_NOTVALID) mean?

CI_E_WORKID_NOTVALID

The supplied content-index work ID is invalid

CI_E_WORKID_NOTVALID is HRESULT 0x80041813. Windows documents it as “The workid is not valid.”

Interpretation in context

This result belongs to resolving a document identifier for update, deletion, notification or property access. The work ID is unknown, stale, malformed or belongs to another catalog generation.

The legacy content-index helper layer has explicit object, catalog and service states. During diagnosis, a generic retry can hide lifecycle, ordering or policy defects.

Conditions to test

• The item was deleted and its ID recycled or retired.
• A work ID from one catalog is sent to another.
• Serialization truncates the identifier.
• A client caches IDs across catalog rebuild.

Incident record

• Check raw work ID and width.
• Check catalog identity and generation.
• Check operation requesting the item.
• Check lookup history and deletion events.

Step-by-step diagnosis

1. Verify the ID in the same catalog used by the caller.
2. Check whether a rebuild or deletion invalidated cached mappings.
3. Audit serialization and signedness.
4. Resolve the current item identity from its canonical source when possible.

Retry decision

Refresh the mapping and retry only with a newly resolved valid work ID. Do not guess or increment identifiers.

What the value cannot establish

It does not mean the source document itself is missing.

Adjacent contract states

CI_E_NOT_FOUND is a broader object lookup result; this HRESULT specifically rejects the work-ID token.

Concrete scenario

A client persists work IDs across a catalog recreation. Storing the catalog generation with each ID prevents stale updates.

Official Microsoft references

• Microsoft: content-indexing helper-function values — official contract information relevant to this HRESULT.
• Microsoft: Content-Indexing values
• Microsoft: HRESULT values
• Microsoft: Windows Search SQL syntax