What causes "MediaFire API error: %s" in AlistGo/alist?

Retry once after forcing a token refresh (call getSessionToken) — expired tokens are the most frequent cause

MediaFire API error: %s

Error message

MediaFire API error: %s

What it means

MakeDir posted to MediaFire's /folder/create.php and got an HTTP 200 JSON response whose response.result field is not 'Success' — e.g. 'Error' with a message. The %s prints only the result code, so the API's human-readable message field (usually also present in the payload) is lost. Typical causes: invalid/expired parent folder key, duplicate folder name, or session token revoked.

Source

Thrown at drivers/mediafire/driver.go:138

	}, nil
}

func (d *Mediafire) MakeDir(ctx context.Context, parentDir model.Obj, dirName string) (model.Obj, error) {
	data := map[string]string{
		"session_token":   d.SessionToken,
		"response_format": "json",
		"parent_key":      parentDir.GetID(),
		"foldername":      dirName,
	}

	var resp MediafireFolderCreateResponse
	_, err := d.postForm("/folder/create.php", data, &resp)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	if resp.Response.Result != "Success" {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("MediaFire API error: %s", resp.Response.Result)
	}

	created, _ := time.Parse("2006-01-02T15:04:05Z", resp.Response.CreatedUTC)

	return &model.ObjThumb{
		Object: model.Object{
			ID:       resp.Response.FolderKey,
			Name:     resp.Response.Name,
			Size:     0,
			Modified: created,
			Ctime:    created,
			IsFolder: true,
		},
		Thumbnail: model.Thumbnail{},
	}, nil
}

func (d *Mediafire) Move(ctx context.Context, srcObj, dstDir model.Obj) (model.Obj, error) {

View on GitHub (pinned to 843d9dc814)

Solutions

Retry once after forcing a token refresh (call getSessionToken) — expired tokens are the most frequent cause
Verify the parent folder key still exists by listing it in the MediaFire web UI
If a duplicate name, list the destination first and reuse the existing folder
Improve the error to include resp.Response.Message so the real API reason is visible

Example fix

// before: only the result code is reported
if resp.Response.Result != "Success" {
    return nil, fmt.Errorf("MediaFire API error: %s", resp.Response.Result)
}

// after: include the API's message field for a diagnosable error
if resp.Response.Result != "Success" {
    return nil, fmt.Errorf("MediaFire API error: %s: %s", resp.Response.Result, resp.Response.Message)
}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: retry

Try / catch

On 'MediaFire API error' from folder/create: refresh the session token once (getSessionToken), retry MakeDir; if it still fails, surface the API message. Also pre-check for an existing folder with the same name via List to avoid duplicate-name results.

Prevention

Wrap all MediaFire mutating calls in a retry-once-after-token-refresh helper
Include response.message in error strings for diagnosability
Idempotency-check directory creation by listing the parent first

When it happens

Trigger: Creating a folder under a parent whose folder_key was deleted; creating a folder when the session token expired mid-session; MediaFire rate-limiting the scraping-style API.

Common situations: Long-running instances whose cron-based token renewal (every 6-9 minutes) failed silently, then a mkdir request arrives; concurrent uploads racing to create the same directory.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of AlistGo/alist@843d9dc814 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f6e4d282d0221deb. Report an issue: GitHub.