affaan-m/ECC · error · Error

discussion lookup failed

Error message

discussion lookup failed (${response.status})

What it means

discussionFromGitHub throws this when the REST request GET /repos/{repo}/discussions/{number} returns a non-ok status. The status distinguishes 404 (no discussion with that number) from auth (401/403) and server errors.

Solutions

  1. Confirm the discussion number exists in the same owner/repo as GITHUB_REPOSITORY (open the discussion URL and compare)
  2. Check the status: 404 -> wrong number/repo or deleted discussion; 401/403 -> fix GITHUB_TOKEN and its repo scope
  3. Ensure discussions are enabled for the repository
  4. Log the response body for GitHub's detailed error

Example fix

// before
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`discussion lookup failed (${response.status})`);
// after
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`discussion lookup failed (${response.status}): ${await response.text()}`);
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// verify the discussion exists before the script
const res = await fetch(`https://api.github.com/repos/${process.env.GITHUB_REPOSITORY}/discussions/${process.env.DISCUSSION_NUMBER}`, { headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.GITHUB_TOKEN}` } });
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`Discussion ${process.env.DISCUSSION_NUMBER} not reachable (${res.status}) — check repo, number, and token scope`);

Try / catch

try {
  const discussion = await discussionFromGitHub();
} catch (err) {
  const m = /discussion lookup failed \((\d+)\)/.exec(err.message);
  if (m && m[1] === '404') console.error('Discussion does not exist in this repo (or discussions disabled)');
  if (m && ['401','403'].includes(m[1])) console.error('Check GITHUB_TOKEN validity and repo scope');
  throw err;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Discussion number points at a nonexistent discussion (404); GITHUB_TOKEN invalid or lacking repo scope (401/403); rate limited (403/429); the discussions REST endpoint unavailable for repos without discussions enabled (404/409 in some cases).

Common situations: Referring to a discussion by number in a different repository than GITHUB_REPOSITORY; discussion deleted; token scoped to another repo; enterprise/GHES versions lacking the discussions REST API.

Understand the failure class

Background: "API error: {status}" and "HTTP 401/403/404/429/5xx" errors: non-2xx HTTP responses explained — this error's family across 27 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of affaan-m/ECC@8321021c54 (2026-09-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/93efc6e95d62be52. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at scripts/discord/release-announce.mjs:99

  return created.createDiscussion.discussion;
}

function discussionFromEnvironment() {
  if (env.DISCUSSION_CATEGORY !== 'Announcements') throw new Error('discussion is not an Announcement');
  return {
    id: env.DISCUSSION_ID,
    title: env.DISCUSSION_TITLE,
    body: env.DISCUSSION_BODY,
    url: env.DISCUSSION_URL,
  };
}

async function discussionFromGitHub() {
  if (!/^\d+$/.test(env.DISCUSSION_NUMBER || '')) throw new Error('discussion number is invalid');
  const response = await request(`https://api.github.com/repos/${env.GITHUB_REPOSITORY}/discussions/${env.DISCUSSION_NUMBER}`, {
    headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${env.GITHUB_TOKEN}`, Accept: 'application/vnd.github+json' },
  });
  if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`discussion lookup failed (${response.status})`);
  const discussion = await response.json();
  if (discussion.category?.name !== 'Announcements') throw new Error('discussion is not an Announcement');
  return { id: discussion.node_id, title: discussion.title, body: discussion.body, url: discussion.html_url };
}

async function findReceiptComment(discussionId, marker) {
  let cursor = null;
  for (let page = 0; page < 50; page += 1) {
    const data = await githubGraphql(
      `query($id:ID!,$after:String){node(id:$id){... on Discussion{comments(first:100,after:$after){nodes{id body author{login}} pageInfo{hasNextPage endCursor}}}}}`,
      { id: discussionId, after: cursor },
    );
    const comments = data.node?.comments;
    if (!comments) throw new Error('discussion receipt lookup failed');
    const receipt = findDiscussionReceipt(comments.nodes, marker);
    if (receipt) return receipt;
    if (!comments.pageInfo.hasNextPage) return null;
    cursor = comments.pageInfo.endCursor;

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