Netlify-cms: 404 error "Not Found" after making repo private without regenerating token

[jocap]

Describe the bug

When accessing the administration page at /admin, I was prompted to log in. After doing so, I was presented with the same page, but with a "Not Found" message on the top of the page.

Checking the browser console, it turned out that it was a request to /.netlify/git/github/branches/master?ts=... that had failed with a 404 error:

.json { "message": "Not Found", "documentation_url": "https://developer.github.com/v3/repos/branches/#get-branch" }

To reproduce

1. Let Netlify create a GitHub repository for you
2. Manually make the repository private, without regenerating the token
3. Attempt to log in to the administration page

Expected behavior

It should display a more descriptive error message. In this case, ideally something like:

Your GitHub authorization token has to be regenerated, perhaps because you have made your repository public or private.

… along with a link to the page where the user can regenerate their token.

Applicable versions

• Netlify CMS version: 2.0.10
• Git provider: GitHub
• OS: Windows 10
• Browser version: Firefox 61

[erquhart]

This is a known issue - not technically a bug, it's just that the token generated by Netlify can only access public repos, nothing we can do about that. You'll want to generate a new token from the Netlify dashboard at https://app.netlify.com/your-site-name/settings/identity#services.

There should be a helpful error message and documentation around this.

[jocap]

@erquhart: Yeah, I know. The issue that I am reporting is that it results in a 404 Not Found error message, which I think is unhelpful.

You'll want to generate a new token from the Netlify dashboard at https://app.netlify.com/your-site-name/settings/identity#services.

This is exactly what the error message should say :-)

[jan-at-futr]

Even after generating a new token I'm returned the same not found error. What gives?

[erquhart]

The 404 is a Netlify platform issue, you can raise that in the community at https://community.netlify.com.

@jan-at-futr there are multiple potential reasons, you can reach out in the community above (there's a Netlify CMS category), or in community chat for assistance.

[marcojakob]

@jan-at-futr If you ask the question in the Netlify platform community, please let me know - I'd also be interested in a solution. I usually have this problem when using the Netlify Deploy Button. The button creates a public repo on GitHub and then if the user changes it to private, the access token won't work any more.

[erquhart]

I guess I'm not sure we should be mentioning implementation details on a public 404 page. But maybe there's another way Netlify can help signal this kind of thing.

[svengau]

if generating the token doesn't solve the issue, check your “Third-party application access policy” in the settings of your organization, and remove any restriction. The url is https://github.com/organizations//settings/oauth_application_policy.