What does HRESULT 0x0004180E (CI_S_WORKID_DELETED) mean?

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CI_S_WORKID_DELETED

Indexing work ID refers to a deleted item

CI_S_WORKID_DELETED is HRESULT 268302 (0x0004180E) from Indexing Service. AllStat describes it as “The workid is deleted.” The severity bit indicates a nonfailure result, but the value carries a specific condition that must not be collapsed into plain S_OK.

In the legacy Indexing Service or IFilter pipeline, CI_S_WORKID_DELETED means that the workid is deleted. The high-level request can be considered complete after CI_S_WORKID_DELETED only when its documented postcondition has been checked.

Where the status is encountered

• CI_S_WORKID_DELETED can be returned during legacy Indexing Service catalog processing; log the exact method and object state instead of interpreting the constant outside that contract.
• CI_S_WORKID_DELETED can be returned during IFilter text and property extraction; log the exact method and object state instead of interpreting the constant outside that contract.
• CI_S_WORKID_DELETED can be returned during search enumeration, scan scheduling, or catalog administration; log the exact method and object state instead of interpreting the constant outside that contract.

Because CI_S_WORKID_DELETED is informational, a language binding may expose it as success and hide the symbolic distinction. Keep the original HRESULT available until the code-specific branch has run.

What must be true before accepting it

For CI_S_WORKID_DELETED, verify that the deleted work ID is removed from pending operations and cannot be reused for a different document generation. The verification prevents CI_S_WORKID_DELETED from being promoted to broader success than the producing API promised.

The component may have changed durable or in-memory state before returning CI_S_WORKID_DELETED; inspect that state first.

Evidence and telemetry

• For CI_S_WORKID_DELETED, preserve work ID and catalog generation.
• For CI_S_WORKID_DELETED, preserve source URL or path.
• For CI_S_WORKID_DELETED, preserve delete timestamp.
• For CI_S_WORKID_DELETED, preserve pending operation type.
• For CI_S_WORKID_DELETED, preserve replacement item identity if recreated.

Also record ci_s_workid_deleted_operation, ci_s_workid_deleted_state_before, ci_s_workid_deleted_state_after, UTC time, process and thread identifiers, component version, and a correlation ID. For CI_S_WORKID_DELETED, protect user data in logs and keep only the identifiers required to reproduce component state.

Diagnostic sequence

• Capture the raw value 0x0004180E before wrappers, signed-decimal formatting, exceptions, or generic success handling replace CI_S_WORKID_DELETED.
• Identify the operation that returned CI_S_WORKID_DELETED, including interface or callback, component build, thread, process, and the state-machine phase.
• For CI_S_WORKID_DELETED, prove the decisive condition: the deleted work ID is removed from pending operations and cannot be reused for a different document generation.
• Inspect every output, count, status array, buffer, callback, task state, media timestamp, transaction vote, or security token that remains part of the CI_S_WORKID_DELETED contract.
• Compare state immediately before and after CI_S_WORKID_DELETED; success severity does not guarantee that optional work or the caller’s intended high-level action completed.
• Reproduce CI_S_WORKID_DELETED with the smallest input that retains the same condition, then alter only the recorded cause before repeating the operation.

Correct handling and recovery

Discard stale work for that ID, reconcile the catalog delete, and obtain a new identity if the source item is recreated.

Retry CI_S_WORKID_DELETED only when a documented input or state has changed. For CI_S_WORKID_DELETED, retry policy must follow the owning state machine rather than a generic transient-error loop.

Difference from nearby results

CI_S_WORKID_DELETED must be distinguished from ordinary S_OK and from failure-severity values in the same API family; its documented state changes control the next action.

For CI_S_WORKID_DELETED, the nearby-status comparison controls whether outputs are usable and whether more work is expected.

Practical scenario

A delayed property update targets a document deleted earlier. The service drops the update, confirms the tombstone, and does not apply it to a later file that reuses the path.

A regression test should reproduce CI_S_WORKID_DELETED, assert the relevant outputs and state, then change only the decisive condition and verify the expected neighboring result or ordinary completion.

Developer and administrator guidance

A support bundle for CI_S_WORKID_DELETED should contain the first component-specific evidence and effective configuration. A support response for CI_S_WORKID_DELETED should preserve the original condition before any restart or unchanged retry can erase it.

For CI_S_WORKID_DELETED, document ownership of retry, cancellation, cleanup, and user messaging. Operational remediation of CI_S_WORKID_DELETED belongs to the producing provider, service, pipeline, or security package.

References

• Microsoft: Filter interface values — official Microsoft material used to interpret CI_S_WORKID_DELETED.
• Microsoft: About Indexing Service filters — official Microsoft material used to interpret CI_S_WORKID_DELETED.
• Microsoft: Using custom filters — official Microsoft material used to interpret CI_S_WORKID_DELETED.
• Microsoft: HRESULT values — official Microsoft material used to interpret CI_S_WORKID_DELETED.

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