What causes "${d.msg || 'API failed'}" in jackwener/OpenCLI?

Re-authenticate with `nowcoder login` so the request includes a valid session

jackwener/OpenCLI · error · Error

${d.msg || 'API failed'}

Error message

${d.msg || 'API failed'}

What it means

The notifications pipeline fetches https://gw-c.nowcoder.com/api/sparta/message/pc/unread/detail in-page and throws new Error(d.msg || 'API failed') when the response JSON has success falsy. The resulting CommandExecutionError carries the server-provided msg (or the generic 'API failed'). It means nowcoder's gateway accepted the request but rejected it — usually due to missing/invalid session credentials or an API-level error.

Source

Thrown at clis/nowcoder/notifications.js:16

import { cli } from '@jackwener/opencli/registry';

cli({
    site: 'nowcoder',
    name: 'notifications',
    access: 'read',
    description: 'Unread message summary',
    domain: 'www.nowcoder.com',
    args: [],
    columns: ['type', 'unread'],
    pipeline: [
        { navigate: 'https://www.nowcoder.com' },
        { evaluate: `(async () => {
  const r = await fetch('https://gw-c.nowcoder.com/api/sparta/message/pc/unread/detail', {credentials: 'include'});
  const d = await r.json();
  if (!d.success) throw new Error(d.msg || 'API failed');
  const data = d.data;
  return [
    {type: 'system', unread: data.systemNotice?.unreadCount || 0},
    {type: 'likes', unread: data.likeCollect?.unreadCount || 0},
    {type: 'comments', unread: data.commentMessage?.unreadCount || 0},
    {type: 'follows', unread: data.followMessage?.unreadCount || 0},
    {type: 'messages', unread: data.privateMessage?.unreadCount || 0},
    {type: 'job_apply', unread: data.nowPickJobApply?.unreadCount || 0},
    {type: 'total', unread: data.total?.unreadCount || 0},
  ];
})()
` },
    ],
});

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

Re-authenticate with `nowcoder login` so the request includes a valid session
Read d.msg in the error for the server's specific reason
Retry later if msg indicates rate limiting or server trouble
If success:false with no msg persists, verify the endpoint URL is still valid

Example fix

// before
const unread = await runNowcoderNotifications();
// after
try {
  const unread = await runNowcoderNotifications();
} catch (e) {
  if (/API failed|nowcoder/.test(e.message)) {
    await runNowcoderLogin();
    return runNowcoderNotifications();
  }
  throw e;
}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

const cookies = await page.getCookies({ url: 'https://www.nowcoder.com' });
if (!cookies.some(c => c.name === 't' && c.value)) {
  throw new Error('Login to nowcoder before fetching notifications');
}

Type guard

function isApiSuccess(d) {
  return !!d && d.success === true && typeof d.data === 'object' && d.data !== null;
}

Try / catch

try {
  return await nowcoderNotifications();
} catch (e) {
  if (/API failed|nowcoder/i.test(e.message)) {
    await nowcoderLogin();
    return nowcoderNotifications();
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

Always authenticate before querying unread-message APIs
Surface d.msg from responses rather than swallowing it
Rate-limit repeated notification polls
Handle success:false explicitly in your own in-page fetch pipelines

When it happens

Trigger: Calling the nowcoder notifications command while logged out (API returns success:false with auth msg); rate limiting or server-side validation errors returning success:false; API contract change making data absent.

Common situations: Expired `t` cookie so gateway denies the unread-detail call; calling from an IP nowcoder distrusts; nowcoder API returning an error message after a backend change.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1a04ce4d252e29d5. Report an issue: GitHub.