wtfutil/wtf · error

failed to parse API URL %s

Error message

 failed to parse API URL
 %s

What it means

Guard in getStatus fired when url.Parse cannot parse the configured apiURL, meaning the Pi-hole API URL string is malformed (bad scheme, invalid characters, etc.). Fetching the Pi-hole status cannot proceed without a valid URL, so the parse error is embedded via parseError and returned; getSummaryView surfaces it in the module. Fix by correcting the apiURL setting (e.g. a proper http://host:port/api endpoint).

Source

Thrown at modules/pihole/client.go:39

	QueriesForwarded    string `json:"queries_forwarded"`
	QueriesCached       string `json:"queries_cached"`
	Status              string `json:"status"`
	GravityLastUpdated  struct {
		Relative struct {
			Days    FlexInt `json:"days"`
			Hours   FlexInt `json:"hours"`
			Minutes FlexInt `json:"minutes"`
		}
	} `json:"gravity_last_updated"`
}

func getStatus(c http.Client, apiURL string) (status Status, err error) {
	var req *http.Request

	var url *url2.URL

	if url, err = url2.Parse(apiURL); err != nil {
		return status, fmt.Errorf(" failed to parse API URL\n %s", parseError(err))
	}

	var query url2.Values

	if query, err = url2.ParseQuery(url.RawQuery); err != nil {
		return status, fmt.Errorf(" failed to parse query\n %s", parseError(err))
	}

	query.Add("summary", "")

	url.RawQuery = query.Encode()
	if req, err = http.NewRequest("GET", url.String(), http.NoBody); err != nil {
		return status, fmt.Errorf(" failed to create request\n %s", parseError(err))
	}

	var resp *http.Response

	if resp, err = c.Do(req); err != nil || resp == nil {

View on GitHub (pinned to bb838c1ccb)

Solutions

1. Fix the apiUrl setting so it is a well-formed URL (e.g. http://pi.hole/admin/api.php)
2. Check for missing scheme, stray spaces, or unescaped characters in the configured URL
3. Test the URL in a browser or with curl before putting it in config

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at modules/pihole/client.go:39 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

Understand the failure class

• Parsing and encoding errors: unexpected token, malformed input — why parsers reject input and how to find the real culprit.

AI-assisted analysis of wtfutil/wtf@bb838c1ccb (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/40e7024e0e30d57c. Report an issue: GitHub.