Empty response from request

[gee4vee]

I am trying to download a file from a repo in a non-async function. The request response is coming back as {}. What are the possible causes for getting back an empty response object?

      let octokit: Octokit;
      const authToken = this.ghTokens.get(module.source.gitRepoUrl);
      if (authToken) {
        octokit = new Octokit({
          baseUrl: module.source.getGitHubUrl(),
          auth: authToken
        });
      } else {
        logger.warn(`No authentication token found for repository ${module.source.gitRepoUrl}`);
        octokit = new Octokit({
          baseUrl: module.source.getGitHubUrl()
        });
      }
      const response = (async () => {
        await octokit.request('GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/contents/{path}', {
          owner: module.source.getRepoOwner(),
          repo: module.source.getRepo(),
          path: `${module.source.gitFolder ? `${module.source.gitFolder}/` : ''}${METADATA_FILE_NAME}`,
          ref: module.source.getBranch()
        });
      })();

[timrogers]

Can you try this, and tell me what output you get when you run it?

let octokit: Octokit;
const authToken = this.ghTokens.get(module.source.gitRepoUrl);
if (authToken) {
  octokit = new Octokit({
    baseUrl: module.source.getGitHubUrl(),
    auth: authToken,
    log: console
  });
} else {
  logger.warn(`No authentication token found for repository ${module.source.gitRepoUrl}`);
  octokit = new Octokit({
    baseUrl: module.source.getGitHubUrl(),
    log: console
  });
}

(async () => {
  const response = await octokit.request('GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/contents/{path}', {
    owner: module.source.getRepoOwner(),
    repo: module.source.getRepo(),
    path: `${module.source.gitFolder ? `${module.source.gitFolder}/` : ''}${METADATA_FILE_NAME}`,
    ref: module.source.getBranch()
  });

  console.log(response);
})();

It adds logging to the Octokit instances and property awaits octokit.request - at the moment, you are awaiting it inside your immediately involved function expresssion [IIFE], but then you aren't awaiting the IIFE itself.

[gee4vee]

@timrogers Thx for the tip! I'm trying your change but getting no output. I can see console.log output coming from statements outside of the IIFE, just not inside.

I tried grabbing the response outside the IIFE afterwards, but it's undefined.

      let response: unknown;
      (async () => {
        response = await octokit.request('GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/contents/{path}', {
          owner: module.source.getRepoOwner(),
          repo: module.source.getRepo(),
          path: `${module.source.gitFolder ? `${module.source.gitFolder}/` : ''}${METADATA_FILE_NAME}`,
          ref: module.source.getBranch()
        });
        // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
        console.log(`CONSOLE LOG GET response: ${response}`);
      })();
      logger.trace(`GET repo response: ${JSON.stringify(response)}`);

[timrogers]

It should be possible to use the response outside, but you would have to either use await or .then, because otherwise the following lines will run before the Octokit call finishes.

[gee4vee]

If I use await at the front of the IIFE, the logger.trace call doesn't produce any output. Does that mean it just never finishes executing in time? Does that mean it's not really waiting for it to finish?

[timrogers]

That sounds likely to me. There could be a networking issue with reaching your GitHub API - especially if it isn't api.github.com.

[gee4vee]

So is it actually possible to use OctoKit in a non-async context?

[timrogers]

I'm afraid that isn't possible because the HTTP calls are fundamentally asynchronous. You can either await the results or chain .then/.catch to handle the control flow. It should be possible to work with async code in Jest though - they have some docs on it.

[gee4vee]

      // set up octokit
      let octokit: Octokit;
      const authToken = this.ghTokens.get(module.source.gitRepoUrl);
      if (authToken) {
        octokit = new Octokit({
          baseUrl: module.source.getGitHubUrl(),
          auth: authToken,
          log: console
        });
      } else {
        logger.warn(`No authentication token found for repository ${module.source.gitRepoUrl}`);
        octokit = new Octokit({
          baseUrl: module.source.getGitHubUrl(),
          log: console
        });
      }
      let response: unknown;
      (async () => {
        response = await octokit.request('GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/contents/{path}', {
          owner: module.source.getRepoOwner(),
          repo: module.source.getRepo(),
          path: `${module.source.gitFolder ? `${module.source.gitFolder}/` : ''}${METADATA_FILE_NAME}`,
          ref: module.source.getBranch()
        });
        // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
        console.log(`CONSOLE LOG GET response: ${response}`);
      })();
      logger.trace(`GET repo response: ${JSON.stringify(response)}`);

[gee4vee]

@timrogers I reworked my stack to use async and await throughout. However when it gets to the await octokit.request call, it simply returns and continues execution. I can see it happen in the debugger. Does this usage look right to you?

      // set up octokit
      let octokit: Octokit;
      const authToken = this.ghTokens.get(module.source.gitRepoUrl);
      if (authToken) {
        octokit = new Octokit({
          baseUrl: module.source.getGitHubUrl(),
          auth: authToken,
          log: console
        });
      } else {
        logger.warn(`No authentication token found for repository ${module.source.gitRepoUrl}`);
        octokit = new Octokit({
          baseUrl: module.source.getGitHubUrl(),
          log: console
        });
      }
      // this is to avoid making parseModule async.
      logger.debug(
        `Retrieving metadata file from repo ${module.source.getRepoUrl()} in path ${
          module.source.gitFolder
        } in branch ${module.source.getBranch()}`
      );
      try {
        const response = await octokit.request('GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/contents/{path}', {
          owner: module.source.getRepoOwner(),
          repo: module.source.getRepo(),
          path: `${module.source.gitFolder ? `${module.source.gitFolder}/` : ''}${METADATA_FILE_NAME}`,
          ref: module.source.getBranch()
        });
        logger.trace(`GET repo response: ${JSON.stringify(response)}`);
      } catch (error) {
        logger.error(`Error getting metadata file from repository ${module.source.getRepoUrl()}: ${error}`);
      }

[gee4vee]

Looks like same behavior with this (also changed the baseUrl to github.com)

        const response = await octokit.request('GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/contents/{path}', {
          // owner: module.source.getRepoOwner(),
          // repo: module.source.getRepo(),
          // path: `${module.source.gitFolder ? `${module.source.gitFolder}/` : ''}${METADATA_FILE_NAME}`,
          // ref: module.source.getBranch()
          owner: 'octokit',
          repo: 'octokit.js',
          path: 'README.md'
        });

All the functions in the stack are async, including the Jest tests, so I think all that should be correct.

[timrogers]

Let's strip this down and go for the simplest possible example! Does the following JavaScript snippet run for you on its own, if you set your token in the GH_TOKEN environment varibale?:

// Replace me with `require` if you're using CommonJS modules 
import { Octokit } from 'octokit';

const octokit = new Octokit({
  auth: process.env.GH_TOKEN
});

(async () => {
  const response = await octokit.request('GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/contents/{path}', {
    owner: 'octokit',
    repo: 'octokit.js',
    path: 'README.md',
    ref: 'main'
  });

  console.log(response)
})();

[gee4vee]

That sample worked, even without setting GH_TOKEN.

[timrogers]

That makes sense - the repo is available publicly 😊 Now I'd recommend gradually working from that sample to your code and trying to figure out what part breaks it, if you can. I can't see anything obvious.

[gee4vee]

@timrogers I figured it out... I was missing an await keyword in the test code :( Thanks for all your help!