HelloZeroNet/ZeroNet · error · AnnounceError

Invalid response: %s

Error message

Invalid response: %s

What it means

AnnounceZeroPlugin announces to a zero:// (ZeroNet-based) tracker peer via request("announce", request). If the reply is falsy or lacks a "peers" key, it raises AnnounceError("Invalid response: %s"). The tracker connection worked but its reply didn't contain the expected peers list.

Source

Thrown at plugins/AnnounceZero/AnnounceZeroPlugin.py:104

        # Tracker can remove sites that we don't announce
        if full_announce:
            request["delete"] = True

        # Sent request to tracker
        tracker_peer = connection_pool.get(tracker_address)  # Re-use tracker connection if possible
        if not tracker_peer:
            tracker_ip, tracker_port = tracker_address.rsplit(":", 1)
            tracker_peer = Peer(str(tracker_ip), int(tracker_port), connection_server=self.site.connection_server)
            tracker_peer.is_tracker_connection = True
            connection_pool[tracker_address] = tracker_peer

        res = tracker_peer.request("announce", request)

        if not res or "peers" not in res:
            if full_announce:
                time_full_announced[tracker_address] = 0
            raise AnnounceError("Invalid response: %s" % res)

        # Add peers from response to site
        site_index = 0
        peers_added = 0
        for site_res in res["peers"]:
            site = sites[site_index]
            peers_added += processPeerRes(tracker_address, site, site_res)
            site_index += 1

        # Check if we need to sign prove the onion addresses
        if "onion_sign_this" in res:
            self.site.log.debug("Signing %s for %s to add %s onions" % (res["onion_sign_this"], tracker_address, len(sites)))
            request["onion_signs"] = {}
            request["onion_sign_this"] = res["onion_sign_this"]
            request["need_num"] = 0
            for site in sites:
                onion = self.site.connection_server.tor_manager.getOnion(site.address)
                publickey = self.site.connection_server.tor_manager.getPublickey(onion)

View on GitHub (pinned to 454c0b2e7e)

Solutions

1. Inspect the %s value — None means request timeout, a dict may reveal the tracker's error reason.
2. Retry; time_full_announced is reset to 0 so a full announce happens again on the next cycle.
3. Update ZeroNet/this tracker plugin — protocol mismatches between versions cause missing "peers" keys.
4. Remove unreachable zero trackers from the tracker list.
5. Verify network/Tor connectivity to the tracker peer.

Example fix

// before
if not res or "peers" not in res:
    raise AnnounceError("Invalid response: %s" % res)
// after
if not res or "peers" not in res:
    self.site.log.warning("Zero tracker %s bad response: %s" % (tracker_address, res))
    return []

try:
    peers = announce_plugin.announceTrackerZero(tracker_address, file_info, *args)
except AnnounceError as e:
    log.warning("Zero tracker %s: %s" % (tracker_address, e))
    # next full announce cycle retries automatically

When it happens

Trigger: The zero tracker returns None on request timeout, an error dict, or a response missing "peers" because the tracker rejected the site or is an incompatible/old tracker version.

Common situations: ZeroNet tracker peers running outdated software; trackers offline (request returns None after timeout); announced site not supported by that tracker; Tor-connected trackers dropping the request.

Related errors

• No response after %.0fs
• Invalid response: %r
• Could not connect
• Invalid response: %r (%s)
• Announce onion address to failed: %s

AI-assisted analysis of HelloZeroNet/ZeroNet@454c0b2e7e (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/314ea984127b3d72. Report an issue: GitHub.