sshnet / sshnet/SSH.NET

'The session is not open' in ListDirectoryAsync

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Dominant language
C#
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Description

On rare occasions, I see 'The session is not open' in ListDirectoryAsync.
The last time I saw it, it was for a server where multiple instances of sftpClient might get created simultaneously with the same username/password, but working with different folders.

SSH.NET 2025.1.0 .Net 9.

My code looks like this:

try
{
    await sftpClient.ConnectAsync(cancellationToken);
	
    await sftpClient.ChangeDirectoryAsync(path, cancellationToken);
    var asyncList = sftpClient.ListDirectoryAsync(path, cancellationToken);
}
finally
{
	if (sftpClient.IsConnected)
		sftpClient.Disconnect();
}

"Type": "System.InvalidOperationException",
"HResult": -2146233079,
"Message": "The session is not open.",
"Source": "Renci.SshNet",
"StackTrace": " at Renci.SshNet.Sftp.SftpSession.SendRequest(SftpRequest request)\r\n at Renci.SshNet.Sftp.SftpSession.GetCanonicalPathAsync(String path, CancellationToken cancellationToken)\r\n at Renci.SshNet.SftpClient.ListDirectoryAsync(String path, CancellationToken cancellationToken)+MoveNext()\r\n at Renci.SshNet.SftpClient.ListDirectoryAsync(String path, CancellationToken cancellationToken)+System.Threading.Tasks.Sources.IValueTaskSource.GetResult()",
"TargetSite": "Void SendRequest(Renci.SshNet.Sftp.Requests.SftpRequest)"

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  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start at SftpClient.ListDirectoryAsync and trace the reported path through SftpSession.GetCanonicalPathAsync and SftpSession.SendRequest. Try to reproduce the failure with multiple SftpClient instances using the same credentials while listing different folders, and inspect session lifetime around ConnectAsync, ListDirectoryAsync, and Disconnect. Done means the rare 'The session is not open' failure is understood and covered by a reliable test or a documented limitation.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
csharp
Domain
networking
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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