jackwener/OpenCLI · error · AuthRequiredError

LinkedIn connections API authentication failed:

Error message

LinkedIn connections API authentication failed:

What it means

The in-page fetchConnections helper calls LinkedIn's Voyager /voyager/api/relationships/connections endpoint with the session CSRF token. When it returns HTTP 401/403 or an HTML login/checkpoint body, it reports authRequired and the command throws AuthRequiredError, appending the underlying error (e.g. 'HTTP 401', 'HTML auth/checkpoint response').

Source

Thrown at clis/linkedin/connections.js:102

    ],
    columns: ['rank', 'name', 'occupation', 'public_id', 'connected_at', 'url'],
    func: async (page, kwargs) => {
        const limit = parseLimit(kwargs.limit, 20, 500);
        await page.goto('https://www.linkedin.com/mynetwork/invite-connect/connections/');
        await page.wait(2);
        await assertLinkedInAuthenticated(page, 'linkedin connections');
        const csrf = await requireLinkedInCookie(page, 'linkedin connections');
        const rows = [];
        let start = 0;
        while (rows.length < limit) {
            const remaining = limit - rows.length;
            const count = remaining < PAGE_SIZE ? remaining : PAGE_SIZE;
            const url = `${CONNECTIONS_PATH}?start=${start}&count=${count}`;
            const fetched = unwrapEvaluateResult(
                await page.evaluate(`(${fetchConnections.toString()})(${JSON.stringify(url)}, ${JSON.stringify(csrf)})`),
            );
            if (fetched && fetched.authRequired) {
                throw new AuthRequiredError(LINKEDIN_DOMAIN, 'LinkedIn connections API authentication failed: ' + fetched.error);
            }
            if (!fetched || fetched.error || !fetched.json) {
                throw new CommandExecutionError('LinkedIn connections API returned an unexpected response: ' + ((fetched && fetched.error) || 'no data'));
            }
            const elements = fetched.json.elements;
            if (!Array.isArray(elements)) {
                throw new CommandExecutionError('LinkedIn connections API returned a malformed payload: missing elements array');
            }
            if (elements.length === 0) break;
            for (const element of elements) {
                rows.push(mapConnection(element, rows.length));
                if (rows.length >= limit) break;
            }
            start += elements.length;
            if (elements.length < count) break;
        }
        if (rows.length === 0) {
            throw new EmptyResultError('linkedin connections', 'No LinkedIn connections were found.');

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

  1. Re-authenticate: re-run the command and sign in when the browser opens, so fresh cookies and csrf token are captured.
  2. Resolve any LinkedIn security checkpoint in a normal browser, then retry the CLI.
  3. Clear cached LinkedIn cookies for the CLI and log in again from a residential IP / without VPN.
  4. Confirm JSESSIONID exists via requireLinkedInCookie — if it is missing, the session was dropped.

Example fix

// before (stale csrf/session)
AuthRequiredError: LinkedIn connections API authentication failed: HTTP 401
// after
$ opencli linkedin login  # refresh session cookies
$ opencli linkedin connections --limit 50
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

const cookies = await page.context().cookies('https://www.linkedin.com');
const hasSession = cookies.some(c => c.name === 'li_at') && cookies.some(c => c.name === 'JSESSIONID');
if (!hasSession) throw new Error('LinkedIn session cookies (li_at / JSESSIONID) missing — authenticate first.');

Type guard

function isAuthRequired(result) {
  return Boolean(result && result.authRequired);
}

Try / catch

try {
  const rows = await opencli.linkedin.connections({ limit: 50 });
} catch (e) {
  if (e.name === 'AuthRequiredError') {
    await opencli.linkedin.login(); // interactive re-auth
    return opencli.linkedin.connections({ limit: 50 });
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Running `linkedin connections` with expired/invalidated session cookies, a missing or stale JSESSIONID (csrf) cookie, or LinkedIn answering the API call with a login redirect / challenge page instead of JSON.

Common situations: Cookie jar not refreshed after LinkedIn rotated JSESSIONID; account restricted or rate-limited into a checkpoint; VPN/datacenter IP triggering the authwall; logged out in another tab.

Understand the failure class

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3ea57dad2cd76ae0. Report an issue: GitHub.