What causes "error getting current user: %s" in wtfutil/wtf?

Check the token is set and valid: curl -H 'Authorization: Bearer ' https://app.asana.com/api/1.0/users/me.

error getting current user: %s

Error message

error getting current user: %s

What it means

Returned by getCurrentUserId when client.CurrentUser() fails. This helper resolves the authenticated user's GID (skipped when mode ends in '_all'); a failure means the token could not be validated against the Asana API, so all task-fetch modes that need the current user abort with this error.

Source

Thrown at modules/asana/client.go:227

	u := &asana.User{
		ID: uid,
	}

	err := u.Fetch(client, nil)
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("error fetching user: %s", err)
	}

	return u.Email, nil
}

func getCurrentUserId(client *asana.Client, mode string) (string, error) {
	if strings.HasSuffix(mode, "_all") {
		return "", nil
	}
	u, err := client.CurrentUser()
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("error getting current user: %s", err)
	}

	return u.ID, nil
}

func findSection(client *asana.Client, project *asana.Project, sectionName string) (string, error) {
	sectionId := ""

	sections, _, err := project.Sections(client, &asana.Options{
		Limit: 100,
	})
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("error getting sections: %s", err)
	}

	for _, section := range sections {
		if section.Name == sectionName {
			sectionId = section.ID

View on GitHub (pinned to bb838c1ccb)

Solutions

Check the token is set and valid: curl -H 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' https://app.asana.com/api/1.0/users/me.
Regenerate the PAT in Asana developer console if it was revoked, and update the environment.
Use a mode ending in '_all' if you don't need per-user filtering (getCurrentUserId then short-circuits and never calls the API).
Verify network/proxy connectivity to app.asana.com from your environment.

Example fix

// before
u, err := client.CurrentUser()
if err != nil {
    return "", fmt.Errorf("error getting current user: %s", err)
}
// after
u, err := client.CurrentUser()
if err != nil {
    return "", fmt.Errorf("error getting current user (check ASANA_TOKEN): %w", err)
}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

token := os.Getenv("ASANA_TOKEN")
if token == "" {
    return fmt.Errorf("ASANA_TOKEN is not set")
}
client := asana.NewClientWithAccessToken(token)
if _, err := client.CurrentUser(); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("ASANA_TOKEN invalid or revoked: %w", err)
}

Try / catch

tasks, err := mod.Fetch(ctx)
if err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "error getting current user") {
        return fmt.Errorf("authentication failed: verify ASANA_TOKEN: %w", err)
    }
    return err
}

Prevention

Check ASANA_TOKEN is set and non-empty before starting the app.
Regenerate revoked PATs from the Asana developer console and update secrets.
Verify connectivity to app.asana.com from your environment/CI.
Use a '_all' mode suffix when current-user resolution is unnecessary.

When it happens

Trigger: Any Fetch call (project, project-sections, or workspace mode with a non-'_all' mode) where client.CurrentUser() errors: missing/empty or revoked token, malformed Authorization header, Asana outage, or network failure.

Common situations: ASANA_TOKEN unset or set to an empty string in the environment; PAT revoked from Asana developer console; clock/network issues in CI; token belonging to a deactivated account.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of wtfutil/wtf@bb838c1ccb (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1b382b62833bac4f. Report an issue: GitHub.