Corrupted auto-contribute table

[btlechowski]

Sometimes a-c table gets corrupted.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Clean profile
2. Enable rewards
3. Change Minimum page time before logging a visit to 5 in a-c table settings
4. Open https://kjozwiak.github.io/ and wait 7 seconds
5. Restart the browser
6. Open https://kjozwiak.github.io/ and wait 7 seconds
7. check publisher_info_db

Actual result:

auto-contribute table becomes corrupted
Not able to add sites to ledger
score for https://kjozwiak.github.io/ in publisher_info_db is negative

publisher_info_db.zip

Expected result:

ac table is not curropted

Reproduces how often:

100% reproduction rate

Brave version (brave://version info)

Brave	0.59.30 Chromium: 72.0.3626.71 (Official Build) (64-bit)
Revision	f52ccad2a6a3c65fc9e0c591a517ceab1198dac0-refs/branch-heads/3626@{#763}
OS	Windows 7

cc @brave/legacy_qa @NejcZdovc

[NejcZdovc]

let's re-test this one after brave/brave-core#1457 and brave/brave-core#1399 lands

[kjozwiak]

@NejcZdovc this seems pretty bad. Both @btlechowski and @GeetaSarvadnya reproduced this issue after upgrading. When it happens, they both mentioned that new websites are not being added into the a-c table and the % are not being recalculated when revisiting publishers that are already in the table.

@LaurenWags attempting to reproduce on macOS right now. I'm going to try reproducing on Win to see if this is a Win related issue or a general problem.

[LaurenWags]

Reproduced a corrupted a-c table with these steps (thanks @GeetaSarvadnya !):

1. installed 0.58.21
2. Enable rewards and restore wallet which has balance
3. Change Auto-Contribute Settings default settings for page time and visit( I have set 5seconds and 1 visit)
4. Add few sites - added 6 sites ( Verified + non verified sites)
5. Tip a site and close the browser
6. Install 0.59.31
7. Visit the same sites in the a-c table - I visited the site I tipped --> attention % rate is not increased
8. Attempt to add a new site to a-c table --> site not added to a-c table

When I look at publisher_info_db the site I visited in steps 7 and 8 have negative score values:

[LaurenWags]

Reproduced a corrupted a-c table when updating from 0.58.18 --> 0.58.21 as well. These were my steps:

1. installed 0.58.18
2. Enable rewards and restore wallet which has balance
3. Change Auto-Contribute Settings default settings for page time and visit( I have set 5seconds and 1 visit)
4. Add few sites - added 6 sites ( Verified + non verified sites)
5. Tip a site. This is my a-c table:
   
6. Navigate to brave://settings/help to trigger update check. Relaunch after update is downloaded.
7. Visit the same sites in the a-c table --> attention % rate is not increased
8. Attempt to add a new site to a-c table --> first site visited is added to a-c table with 0%, second site visited is not added to a-c table at all.
   This is my a-c table:
   

When I look at publisher_info_db the site I visited in steps 7 and 8 have negative score values:

[LaurenWags]

Quicker repro steps:

1. Install Brave (I was using 0.58.21), enable rewards
2. Change Auto-Contribute Settings default settings for page time (change from 8s to 5s)
3. Add a few sites (I used clifton.io, ddg, google)
4. Close and relaunch Brave
5. Visit a site already in a-c table --> attention % does not change
6. Visit a new site (it was added with 0%)
   

Brave	0.58.21 Chromium: 71.0.3578.98 (Official Build) (64-bit)
Revision	15234034d19b85dcd9a03b164ae89d04145d8368-refs/branch-heads/3578@{#897}
OS	Mac OS X

[btlechowski]

I updated the main issue with reliable STR. Thanks @GeetaSarvadnya and @LaurenWags !

[kjozwiak]

Thanks @LaurenWags @btlechowski @GeetaSarvadnya 👍

Labelled this as a blocker as it will put users in a bad state whenever they update any of the a-c settings. Once you get into the above state, new publishers won't be added into the a-c table and old publishers that are already in the a-c table won't be updated correctly.

I'm not 100% sure how many users actually play around with the a-c settings but whoever does will most likely get into the above state. We should probably fix this as we don't need anymore users in bad states.

@NejcZdovc when you take a look at this one, can you also check if there's a way to fix users who might be in this broken state?

[Sh1d0w]

FYI This bug is present in the official release 0.58.21. I've been observing it for at least two weeks without being able to contribute to a verified websites, which still shows as unverified.

I thought it was related to #2816 (comment) so I've reported it there.

[LaurenWags]

Verified passed with

Brave	0.59.33 Chromium: 72.0.3626.81 (Official Build) (64-bit)
Revision	ac8b982e05014492d1bd7d317628a4f22a97ffa0-refs/branch-heads/3626@{#796}
OS	Mac OS X

• Verified STR on clean profile does not cause issue
• Verified when a profile (from 0.58.21) with issue as described is updated to 0.59.33, and a new site is visited, has the table correctly displayed (no sites lost, % values are accurate, weights in publisher_info_db are accurate)
• Verified when a profile (from 0.58.21) without the issue as described is updated to 0.59.33 and a new site is visited has the table correctly displayed (no sites lost, % values are accurate, weights in publisher_info_db are accurate)

Verification passed on

Brave	0.59.33 Chromium: 72.0.3626.81 (Official Build) (64-bit)
Revision	ac8b982e05014492d1bd7d317628a4f22a97ffa0-refs/branch-heads/3626@{#796}
OS	Windows 7

Used STR from OP.
Checked update from 0.58.21 with and without corrupted profile

Verification passed on

Brave	0.59.33 Chromium: 72.0.3626.81 (Official Build) (64-bit)
Revision	ac8b982e05014492d1bd7d317628a4f22a97ffa0-refs/branch-heads/3626@{#796}
OS	Linux

Used STR from OP.
Checked update from 0.58.21 with and without corrupted profile