Cannot add collaborator - Invitation not found

[Eeemil]

I'm trying to add staticmanapp as a collaborator to my repository (https://github.com/Eeemil/blog), but whenever I've tried to go accept the invite by either https://api.staticman.net/v2/connect/Eeemil/blog or https://api.staticman.net/v2/connect/eeemil/blog (for trying case sensitivity) it just says "Invitation not found".

[HaoZeke]

I have also been facing this issue. If it helps, mine is a private repo.

[Eeemil]

When I tried https://api.staticman.net/v2/connect/Eeemil/blog again ~18 hours later, it worked and I received an OK. For me, the issue is resolved but I'll wait for a developer to mark this as solved if this issue is affecting more people.

Perhaps there is a delay from inviting staticmanapp untill the invite can be accepted? If so, this should be documented on https://staticman.net/docs/

[HaoZeke]

I think this is an intermittent server load problem, since I am still getting the invitation not found error.

[kulbhushanchand]

I am facing the same problem

[HaoZeke]

Mine was also automatically resolved in a day or so. I guess there's a waiting list.

[josineto]

I have the same problem. I sent the invitation 18 hours ago, and using the accept link, I've received the JSON message "Too many requests in this time frame", and a date for the next allowed request. I reloaded the page, and the "Invitation not found" message appeared.

Now, same steps happen: first a JSON message, "Too many requests...", and in second page load, "Invitation not found"... Still I don't have the invitation accepted.

[kulbhushanchand]

It's been 7 days, and still invitation pending or too many requests.

If @eduardoboucas may check for the issue (he is the creator of staticman).

[akmur]

Same here :)

[sfi0zy]

I have the same issue. It just returns "Invitation not found".

[MichaelRumpler]

I also get "Invitation not found". Looks like I have to wait.

[morningspace]

Me too... keep getting the same "Invitation not found"...

[samarulmeu]

Same thing here also. Two test sites and the invitations are not found.

[ricardonadao]

Same here, did anyone got it sorted?

[morningspace]

No lucky at all. I tried multiple times by re-adding the staticmanapp, waiting even a couple of days, still got "Invitation not found". It looks the service is completely stop working... I don't know what we could do until someone to take look at the hosted service? It's not something wrong in code that we could fix by issuing a PR. It's the deployment env that we couldn't touch... :-(

[eduardoboucas]

Sorry, I’m AFK for a few days, but I’ll have a look when I get back on Sunday or Monday. The “Too many requests” is a message from the GitHub API indicating that we’re over the limit, I wonder if the “Invitation not found” is a similar thing, i.e. the user being added to too many repos.

[ricardonadao]

Thank you Eduardo, boas ferias ;)

[kulbhushanchand]

After 10 days, I got OK response. Comments on my blog working now. 👍

[janiceleng]

no response from me either...

[janiceleng]

does anyone have any updates on this issue?

[josineto]

I got OK two days ago. Perhaps this is an intermitent issue...

[samarulmeu]

I never got OK... More than a week of waiting...

[maxime-michel]

Isn't there a possibility that this issue is affecting comment submissions as well?

[VincentTam]

If this issue is urgent, why don't consider setting up your own API instance? Provided you have a (free) Heroku account, the whole setup can be done under fifteen minutes.

[maxime-michel]

Indeed, this is also the suggested solution in #222.

However, it is not explicitely described anywhere yet that to make sure all submitted comments on your site get processed, you should deploy your own. It reduces the appeal quite a bit, too. As far as I'm concerned, I would rather pay a small fee than have to deal with that.

[VincentTam]

However, it is not explicitely described anywhere yet.

The second link of my previous comment does describe the whole process of hosting it on a Heroku free dyno. If you follow it, you will have your own API instance built within a quarter of an hour.

"GitLab does not have collaborator invites, so this is currently not required for Staticman to collaborate on a project. The user can just add Staticman immediately." -- #219

Moreover, with #219, you may bypass this problem by using GitLab pages. In fact, users in #22 has reported an array of advantages of GitLab over GitHub, for example, native CD/CI support.

The screenshot below illustrates my demo GitLab Pages (Source). From the timestamp in each commit, it's clear that this site was built while @staticmanapp was "on holiday". How does this works? I've built my own API instance and GitHub/GitLab bot @staticmanlab.

---

"Not that I'm aware of. Could you create one?"

As a consequence of @eduardoboucas's request, I've really built one running on a free Heroku dyno to test the newly available #219 GitLab suuport. The associated Git* bots are both named @staticmanlab.

[maxime-michel]

(Sorry, I wasn't talking about the deployment process, for which you've given an excellent and totally clear link, I was talking about the Staticman getting started: it doesn't mention these potential API limit problems yet.)

[VincentTam]

@maxime-michel I see your point. It's better to mention this limitation at the very beginning, so that users can choose between

1. use public API instance
2. setup own API instance

This is more efficient as @staticmanapp will receive less invitations.

[saifulmuhajir]

This still happened to me after waiting for five days. The response is still 'invitation not found'. Is there any workaround for this?

Thanks

[VincentTam]

@saifulmuhajir As depicted on Staticman's set, Staticman functions basically like a 🚚 truck which POSTs HTML 📄 form data into your GitHub/GitLab repo 📁 (running on any GitHub/GitLab server).

When a bus is not working, passengers would be asked to take another one. Similarly, for a workaround, you can use my API instance (built at the request of @eduardoboucas for testing #219) or even build your own instance within Heroku's free tier.

[ghanavat]

Hey @VincentTam,

Thanks for your response. @ghanavatsStaticmanAPI also belongs to me. I have created a new GitHub accound, forked the staticman master branch into it, and cloned a copy from it on my local machine. For experimental purposes and learn how I can decentralise Staticman.

Excellent, I have taken a quick look at some of the features that GitLab provides, and they also have hosting solution similar to GitHub called GitLab Pages. This will help me to setup my site hassle free, as I am currently using GitHub Pages.

Will start this project from tomorrow morning. Will leave comments here if I need yours or anybody else's help.

[VincentTam]

I have taken a quick look at some of the features that GitLab provides, and they also have hosting solution similar to GitHub called GitLab Pages.

I personally think that GitLab Pages are much better than its GitHub counterpart due to its integrated CD/CI. The former supports almost all static blog generators. That concerns, in particular, Hugo users. You may compare the deployment of a Hugo site to GitLab to the homologous setup for GitHub.

The build time for a Jekyll site on Framagit is about 24s, whereas the figure for its upstream on GitLab.com is about 75s.

More importantly, GitLab is free (as in freedom), whereas GitHub is proprietary.

[HaoZeke]

I have taken a quick look at some of the features that GitLab provides, and they also have hosting solution similar to GitHub called GitLab Pages.

I personally think that GitLab Pages are much better than its GitHub counterpart due to its integrated CD/CI. The former supports almost all static blog generators. That concerns, in particular, Hugo users. You may compare the deployment of a Hugo site to GitLab to the homologous setup for GitHub.

The build time for a Jekyll site on Framagit is about 24s, whereas the figure for its upstream on GitLab.com is about 75s.

More importantly, GitLab is free (as in freedom), whereas GitHub is proprietary.

I probably shouldn't get into this, but my understanding was that GitLab is also proprietary, but it also has an open sourced version which may be self hosted. Could we maybe highlight the most important points of this discussion and have this one closed? I fear a lot of the later topics are getting in the way of understanding the workarounds. (this includes people saying me too and stuff)

[VincentTam]

Since the problem is ongoing, I don't think closing this issue is appropriate.

The workarounds are ways to help people to enjoy this great service despite Staticman's API limit. Since the documentation has not described them, it's natural that users ask questions about them. Instead of closing this issue and hiding them in the closed tab, we should let them stay there until the problem is resolved.

More importantly, the decentralization of Staticman's API allows netizens to enjoy this service in countries where some Google and Facebook are forbidden.

Hence, through the discussion of the workarounds, some users enjoy greater freedom when using Staticman. This phenomenon should be embraced instead of feared.

[omidonrails]

i have the same issue... and after 1 month not worked

[VincentTam]

@omidonrails You may find this repo useful: https://github.com/asadise/blog

P.S. It's made by an Iranian 🇮🇷 web developer.

[ghanavat]

I've pointed out two workarounds. You can choose either one or both of them. I've written two separate guides.

1. Use the public GitLab instance @staticmanlab
2. Self-host API

Hey @VincentTam, I would like to self host my own API instance (#2 above). For that I would need your help please.

My goal is (as per your advise above) to host my own Staticman API instance. And I want to do it through GitLab, and to be hosted on GitLab Page (Not Heroku). Then I can use it through my GitLab Repo (My blog, which has been migrated from GitHub, and is hosted on GitLab Page)

In stage 1 of your tutorial, I need a clone of Staticman from GitHub. Should I push this to a GitLab account created as a Staticman bot? Then it can be hosted on GitLab Page, correct?

Please advise.

[VincentTam]

Should I push this to a GitLab account created as a Staticman bot?

No. A copy of this Node.js app should be run on the server side. Heroku is just an example. The actual setup can vary greatly, and my tutorial also covers some general discussions. You may view, for example, @gabeluci's tutorial in #244 as a reference. Nonetheless, there're no guarantee on the validity of the docs and tutorials online, as can be seen in #255.

Another tutorial is coming soon at https://team-parallax.com/use-selfhosted-staticman-with-gitlab-1

Then it can be hosted on GitLab Page, correct?

GitLab Pages is static web host, not a Node.js web host.

[kulbhushanchand]

@VincentTam Thanks for yours persistence contributions to this issue. The link you have shared above is for hosting staticman instance with GitLab.

Why GitLab? Well, opposed to GitHub, you can have lots of unlimited private repositories.

The above reason was given in the tutorial, but few days ago Microsoft gave the access to create private repositories to free users as well. (It was not when the tutorial was written). and I want to stick with GitHub (personal preference)

Is there any tutorial (verified to be working) for creating private instance of staticman-v3 with GitHub?

[VincentTam]

@kulbhushan-chand Due to the lack of Staticman self-hosting tutorials, which are too specific to be included in the official documentation, I've posted URLs to several tutorials.

@VincentTam Thanks for yours persistence contributions to this issue. The link you have shared above is for hosting staticman instance with GitLab.

A Staticman API instance can interact with one GitHub and/or GitLab account. This is documented in the official documentation for the API config and Staticman v3's API endpoint scheme in #219. (GITHUB_TOKEN and GITLAB_TOKEN).

Therefore, once the API instance is set up, it remains to add the appropriate GitHub token.

[VincentTam]

I omitted the word "private" in my last reply.

Setting up an API instance (server-side) and setting up a remote Git repo (client-side) are two separate processes.

If you want a tutorial on "private instance of Staticman", I recommend @gabeluci's updated article in #244: https://www.gabescode.com/staticman/2019/01/03/create-staticman-instance.html

For "Staticman that works with GitHub", the official documentation already covers that. You may consult, nonetheless, more for blog themes with Staticman support, say Beautiful Hugo, Minimal Mistakes, Minimo, etc.

[kulbhushanchand]

@VincentTam Thanks
I found your tutorial (https://vincenttam.gitlab.io/post/2018-09-16-staticman-powered-gitlab-pages/2/)
informative.
I am using minimal mistakes theme and staticman official github public instance served me well for a month before felling down for this issue. I may give one last (also my first attempt) shot to set up private instance, that's why looking for very specific and reliable tutorial.

Your tutorial looks promising, however I wanted to use the free service of Heroku, which has a limitation of making service sleep after 30 minutes of inactivity. How you manged to deal with this?

[VincentTam]

@kulbhushan-chand Perhaps a ping to the API server when a JavaScript input event is triggered.

[kulbhushanchand]

@VincentTam Any idea about time delay for API server to get active, if tried to ping just before posting comment? I meant to say do we need to wait some time after pinging so the comment may not get unregistered.
Also did you have verified this ping method?

[VincentTam]

No, I've not tested that, but that should work in principle. A free dyno needs 20s to wake up, so I think it's better to ping the API when the user has input sth.

[eduardoboucas]

Hi. Can I ask anyone with problems authenticating with Staticman to please read this comment and try the suggested route? It's only active on the development instance, I'm looking to collect feedback before deploying to production.

Thanks for your patience.

[dannyzhan]

I'm getting the error when trying to accept the invitation.

Application error
An error occurred in the application and your page could not be served. If you are the application owner, check your logs for details. You can do this from the Heroku CLI with the command
heroku logs --tail

[alexwaibel]

Duplicate of #317

[ahmedshakeel083]

its been long now the staticman has different COLLABORATORS,
I have added it 24hrs ago and still its showing PENDING INVITE , but when i hit this https://api.staticman.net/v2/connect/ahmedshakeel083/nextjs-blog/
i m getting OK?

is there any solutuon for this

I m using NEXT with NETLIFY CMS

[VincentTam]

@ahmedshakeel083 Please stay away from public instances and set up your own one.

[ahmedshakeel083]

Hi Vincent ,

I am newbie to all this , do u mean i should take the pull repo of staticman and add to my code than use it

[VincentTam]

@ahmedshakeel083 Sorry for late reply. If you are satisfied with the features in the standard release, you can simply click the Heroku deploy button and config the necessary variables through the online dashboard.