nicolargo/glances · error · HTTPException

Cannot get history for plugin {plugin} ({str(e)})

Error message

Cannot get history for plugin {plugin} ({str(e)})

What it means

Raised when get_raw_history(item, nb) fails for a specific item's history, returned as HTTP 404. Item-level history requires both the plugin's history buffer and the item's presence in the stats structure; failure means one of these is missing or the underlying history export raised.

Source

Thrown at glances/outputs/glances_restful_api.py:1220

    def _api_item_history(self, plugin: str, item: str, nb: int = 0):
        """Glances API RESTful implementation.

        Return the JSON representation of the couple plugin/history of item
        HTTP/200 if OK
        HTTP/400 if plugin is not found
        HTTP/404 if others error

        """
        self._check_if_plugin_available(plugin)

        # Update the stat
        self.__update_stats(get_plugin_dependencies(plugin))

        try:
            # Get the RAW value of the stat history
            ret = self.stats.get_plugin(plugin).get_raw_history(item, nb=nb)
        except Exception as e:
            raise HTTPException(status.HTTP_404_NOT_FOUND, f"Cannot get history for plugin {plugin} ({str(e)})")
        else:
            return GlancesJSONResponse(ret)

    def _api_item_description(self, plugin: str, item: str):
        """Glances API RESTful implementation.

        Return the JSON representation of the couple plugin/item description
        HTTP/200 if OK
        HTTP/400 if plugin is not found
        HTTP/404 if others error
        """
        self._check_if_plugin_available(plugin)

        try:
            # Get the description
            ret = self.stats.get_plugin(plugin).get_item_info(item, 'description')
        except Exception as e:
            raise HTTPException(

View on GitHub (pinned to a240d8dfb3)

Solutions

1. Wait for several refresh cycles so the history buffer fills
2. Confirm history is enabled on the server
3. GET /api/4/<plugin>/history (full history) to see which items are tracked
4. Match item names to the current version's stats output

full = httpx.get(f'{BASE}/api/4/{plugin}/history/{nb}').json()
if item not in full:
    print(f'no history tracked for {item}')

def has_history(item: str, history: dict) -> bool:
    return isinstance(history, dict) and item in history

try:
    h = httpx.get(f'{BASE}/api/4/{plugin}/history/{nb}/{item}').json()
except httpx.HTTPStatusError as e:
    if e.response.status_code == 404:
        h = []  # no history yet for this item
    else:
        raise

When it happens

Trigger: GET /api/4/<plugin>/history/<nb>/<item> with an item that is not a history-tracked field, or before any samples exist in the history buffer.

Common situations: Querying right after server start, history disabled via --disable-history, or item names that changed across glances versions.

Related errors

• Cannot get plugin history {plugin} ({str(e)})
• Cannot get item {item} in plugin {plugin} ({str(e)})
• Cannot get item {item} in plugin view {plugin} ({str(e)})
• Cannot get help view data ({str(e)})
• Cannot get plugin list ({str(e)})

AI-assisted analysis of nicolargo/glances@a240d8dfb3 (2026-08-27). Data as JSON: /api/errors/91f163b9d18f8d4a. Report an issue: GitHub.