Curseforge API Issues should not be fatal if pack is already installed

[AngellusMortis]

Enhancement Type

Improve an existing feature

Describe the enhancement

If an AUTO_CURSEFORGE pack is already install, encountering Curseforge API issues (403 / Access to https://api.curseforge.com is forbidden or rate-limit has been exceeded) should not block startup of the Minecraft server.

I have had a pack installed for a bit over a week now. Restarted multiple times, everything has been fine. This morning, I scaled down the server to update a server config and now when I start it up I get:

[mc-image-helper] 10:06:47.853 ERROR : Invalid parameter provided for 'install-curseforge' command: Access to https://api.curseforge.com is forbidden or rate-limit has been exceeded. Ensure CF_API_KEY is set to a valid API key from https://console.curseforge.com/ or allow rate-limit to reset.

I have already tested my API key and everything locally and it appears to work. I think it is just Cloudflare temporarily flagging my IP or something. But still, a simple restart should not take down the whole server if the startup cannot communicate with Curseforge. The pack is already installed. Throw a warning it could not check for updates or something and let it continue.

[dominik-tietz]

I got the same problem. I am not able to start my server anymore.

[itzg]

Please provide your container config but be sure to hide the API key.

[AngellusMortis]

I am not asking for support with the API key issue, just that it should not exit the pod if there is an API issue and the pack is already installed. It is really not just if there is a 403, but for any reason (similar to https://github.com/itzg/docker-minecraft-server/issues/2175).

If a pack has already been initially installed, the container should not break on restart for any reason related to networking issues.

[itzg]

I'm asking because I want to know if you're specifying a specific modpack version or not.

[AngellusMortis]

I am.

[itzg]

This enhancement request is basically a duplicate of #2175.

[AngellusMortis]

I do agree they are essentially the root cause/fix.

That is specifically saying "Internet connection required" though. It should be reworded/renamed to something like "containers should not fail to restart if installed and there are any network issues". Since in this case, it is because of a bad response to Curseforge not a lack of Internet.

[itzg]

Right. The point is that there is a very small, but non-zero number of API calls needed to reconcile the requested modpack identifier/version and confirm it's the one previously installed.

I usually prefer not to change people's issue titles, but looking again it does seem like it could benefit from improved wording.

Edit

Their issue was encountering network requirements even before steps like cross checking CurseForge modpacks. So, yes, vaguely similar root causes, but distinct enough otherwise.

[AngellusMortis]

You could just write a simple file out say what the last "installed" pack was. Then if the old pack and the new pack match then

• if the pack is not pinned (there can be an update / CF_FILE_ID is not set): do a warning instead of an exit
• if the pack is pinned (CF_FILE_ID), do not even make network calls

[itzg]

It does do that. Look at the file .curseforge-manifest.json Again:

The point is that there is a very small, but non-zero number of API calls needed to reconcile the requested modpack identifier/version and confirm it's the one previously installed.

[AngellusMortis]

I do not see why you would need network calls then. If CF_SLUG and/or CF_FILE_ID match what is in the .curseforge-manifest.json, there is no need require the network requests. Unless there is something I am missing.

[itzg]

With debugs looks like it needs 3 API calls (but one was cached):

+ mc-image-helper install-curseforge --results-file=/data/.install-curseforge.env --force-synchronize=false --force-reinstall-modloader=false --overrides-skip-existing=false --modpack-page-url=https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/modpacks/better-mc-forge-bmc4/files/5594853 '--exclude-mods=917285, 866084, 561885' --exclude-include-file=/image/cf-exclude-include.json
2024-11-24T18:32:00.201839971Z [mc-image-helper] 18:32:00.200 DEBUG : Loading cache index from ./.cache/curseforge/cache-index.json
[mc-image-helper] 18:32:00.643 DEBUG : JSON FETCH: uri=https://api.curseforge.com/v1/categories?gameId=432&classesOnly=true headers=[user-agent: itzg/mc-image-helper/1.40.4 (cmd=install-curseforge), x-fetch-session: be9dfbbf-71f2-4d8b-85cd-fc1867846e08, x-api-key: [redacted], accept: application/json, host: api.curseforge.com]
2024-11-24T18:32:00.680830762Z [mc-image-helper] 18:32:00.680 DEBUG : JSON FETCH: uri=https://api.curseforge.com/v1/mods/search?gameId=432&slug=better-mc-forge-bmc4&classId=4471 headers=[user-agent: itzg/mc-image-helper/1.40.4 (cmd=install-curseforge), x-fetch-session: be9dfbbf-71f2-4d8b-85cd-fc1867846e08, x-api-key: [redacted], accept: application/json, host: api.curseforge.com]
2024-11-24T18:32:00.698744804Z [mc-image-helper] 18:32:00.698 DEBUG : Getting mod file metadata for 876781:5594853
2024-11-24T18:32:00.703333304Z [mc-image-helper] 18:32:00.703 DEBUG : Loading cached content of getModFileInfo(876781,5594853) from ./.cache/curseforge/getModFileInfo/15ca0c40-0632-46fc-93db-f7a781787f49.json
2024-11-24T18:32:00.712359846Z [mc-image-helper] 18:32:00.711 INFO  : Requested CurseForge modpack Better MC [FORGE] 1.20.1 v29.5 is already installed for Better MC [FORGE] BMC4

Just noting if someone wants to help improve the code, it's located in https://github.com/itzg/mc-image-helper/tree/master/src/main/java/me/itzg/helpers/curseforge

[itzg]

I got the same problem. I am not able to start my server anymore.

@dominik-tietz please open a separate issue and provide container config and logs.

[Djent-]

I wrote out a long comment related to the underlying 403 issue but then deleted it when I realized I had my CF_API_KEY formatted wrong. Escaping $ seems like an easy gotcha. When mc-image-helper encounters a 403, it would be a good user experience to sanity check the API key format and not reattempt the API call with the same invalid API key

[itzg]

@Djent- unescaped dollar signs get pre-processed by docker as variable placeholders so the behavior is before is before and beyond the control of the image tooling. I'm also at the mercy of whatever API key format CurseForge chooses -- they might someday decide not to use the prefix with dollar signs in it. With that said, they've stuck to that format for a while now so I guess I could have the code inspect for that and print a warning about the unexpected format.

[williamspacefire]

Hi, i had the same problem, even escaping the api key i was getting this same error, but i figured that was because i was downloading the files too fast, i`m running on a VPS, to solve this i just need to escape the api key and every time i got rate limited i just stop and start the container again until it download everything. If run it with "docker compose up" command the container will stop once fail and you just need to run the command again until it work. Maybe put some timing before download the next file help fix the problem for some people, it was downloading too fast. Sorry for my English, i hope i could help.