Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

"Access token required" when changing password on first login

Cause: The session cookie has the Secure flag set, which means the browser will only send it over HTTPS. When accessing TREK over plain HTTP (e.g. http://192.168.1.x:3000), the browser silently drops the cookie and the server sees no session — returning "Access token required".

Fix: Choose one of the following options:

Option 1 — Use HTTPS. Access TREK via HTTPS with a valid SSL certificate.

Option 2 — Disable the Secure flag. Set COOKIE_SECURE=false in your Docker environment to allow the session cookie to be sent over plain HTTP:

environment:
  - COOKIE_SECURE=false

Note: Option 2 is only recommended for internal/home-lab deployments that do not use HTTPS. Do not use it on a publicly accessible instance. See Environment Variables.

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WebSocket not connecting / real-time sync broken

Cause: Your reverse proxy is not forwarding WebSocket upgrade headers on the /ws path.

Fix: Add the following to your proxy config for the /ws location:

proxy_http_version 1.1;
proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";

Without these headers, the WebSocket handshake fails and real-time sync will not work. See Reverse Proxy for a complete nginx and Caddy configuration. Caddy handles WebSocket upgrades automatically.

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HTTPS redirect loop

Cause: FORCE_HTTPS=true is set but your reverse proxy is not forwarding the X-Forwarded-Proto: https header, so every request looks like plain HTTP and gets redirected indefinitely.

Fix: Ensure your proxy passes the X-Forwarded-Proto header to TREK. Also set TRUST_PROXY=1 so that Express uses the forwarded IP for rate limiting and audit logs:

environment:
  - FORCE_HTTPS=true
  - TRUST_PROXY=1

Note: The /api/health endpoint is always exempt from the HTTPS redirect so that Docker health checks continue to work over plain HTTP.

If you are accessing TREK directly on http://<host>:3000 with no proxy, remove FORCE_HTTPS entirely. See Environment Variables.

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Encrypted settings lost / API keys not working after migration

Cause: The ENCRYPTION_KEY was changed or lost. All API keys, SMTP passwords, OIDC client secrets, and MFA TOTP secrets are encrypted at rest using this key. Without the original key, decryption fails.

Fix: See Encryption Key Rotation for the migration script that re-encrypts data under a new key. If the original key is gone entirely, the encrypted values are unrecoverable and must be re-entered in the admin panel.

Note: If you upgraded from an older version without setting ENCRYPTION_KEY, the server uses the following resolution order on startup: (1) ENCRYPTION_KEY env var, (2) data/.encryption_key file, (3) one-time fallback to data/.jwt_secret for legacy upgrades — the value is immediately written to data/.encryption_key so JWT rotation cannot break decryption later, (4) auto-generated fresh key for brand-new installs. Check data/.encryption_key for the key currently in use.

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Locked out of MFA / lost authenticator

Fix: If you still have access to your account, use one of the 10 backup codes generated during MFA setup to complete login. After signing in, go to Settings > Security to disable or reconfigure MFA.

If you no longer have access to backup codes and cannot log in, an admin must disable MFA for your account directly in the database, or use the reset-admin.js script to regain access to an admin account. There is no per-user MFA reset in the Admin Panel UI — the Admin Panel only controls the global "require MFA for all users" policy. See Admin: Users and Invites.

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Demo user cannot edit or create

Cause: The instance is running with DEMO_MODE=true. All write operations are blocked for the demo account by design.

Fix: This is intentional behavior for public demo deployments. If you are self-hosting and want full access, remove the DEMO_MODE variable (or set it to false). See Demo Mode.

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Backup restore fails with "file too large"

Cause: Your reverse proxy has a default body size limit (commonly 1 MB or 10 MB) that is smaller than the backup ZIP. Backup archives include the full uploads directory and can be large.

Fix: Raise the body size limit in your proxy config. TREK's own backup upload cap is 500 MB. For nginx:

client_max_body_size 500m;

Add this to the location / block (or the specific backup route). See Reverse Proxy and Backups.

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"Cannot find module" on startup

Likely cause: A Docker volume mount is missing or the /app/data and /app/uploads directories are not writable by the container process. TREK automatically creates all required subdirectories on startup (data/logs, data/backups, data/tmp, uploads/files, uploads/covers, uploads/avatars, uploads/photos) — if this fails because the volume is read-only or owned by the wrong user, startup will abort.

Fix: Check your Docker volume configuration. Both ./data:/app/data and ./uploads:/app/uploads must be mounted and writable. Run docker inspect <container> --format '{{json .Mounts}}' to verify the mounts are present and point to valid host paths. If the host directories are owned by root, the container's chown step (which runs as root before dropping to node) should correct permissions automatically — but if your host filesystem is read-only or permissions are locked down, grant write access manually:

sudo chown -R 1000:1000 ./data ./uploads

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Encryption key regenerated on restart — stored secrets stop working

Cause: On every startup, TREK resolves its encryption key in this order: (1) ENCRYPTION_KEY env var, (2) data/.encryption_key file, (3) legacy data/.jwt_secret fallback, (4) auto-generate a fresh key. If neither the env var nor the data/ volume is persisted — for example after recreating a container without a volume mount — a new random key is generated and all stored secrets (SMTP password, OIDC client secret, API keys, MFA TOTP seeds) become unrecoverable.

Fix: Ensure ./data:/app/data is mounted as a persistent volume so data/.encryption_key survives restarts. Alternatively, pin the key explicitly:

environment:
  - ENCRYPTION_KEY=<your-key>

See Encryption Key Rotation for how to retrieve or rotate the key.

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OIDC login returns "APP_URL is not configured"

Cause: When OIDC is enabled, TREK needs to know its own public URL to build the redirect URI. It resolves this from (1) APP_URL env var, (2) the first entry in ALLOWED_ORIGINS, (3) http://localhost:<PORT> as a last resort. If none of these are set and the request is not coming from localhost, TREK returns a 500 error.

Fix: Set APP_URL to the public URL of your instance:

environment:
  - APP_URL=https://trek.example.com

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OIDC login fails with issuer mismatch

Cause: TREK validates that the issuer field in the provider's discovery document exactly matches the configured OIDC_ISSUER. A trailing-slash difference (e.g. https://auth.example.com vs https://auth.example.com/) is enough to fail.

Fix: Check the exact issuer value your provider advertises and match it:

curl -s https://<your-oidc-issuer>/.well-known/openid-configuration | jq .issuer

Set OIDC_ISSUER to that exact string.

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OIDC login fails when provider is on a private/internal network

Cause: TREK's SSRF guard blocks outbound requests to private IP ranges by default. If your OIDC provider (e.g. Keycloak, Authentik) is running on an internal address, the discovery document fetch will be blocked with: Requests to private/internal network addresses are not allowed.

Fix:

environment:
  - ALLOW_INTERNAL_NETWORK=true

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Password reset emails are not delivered / SMTP is silent

Cause: SMTP failures are logged but do not surface as errors to the end user — the "reset email sent" message appears regardless. Common causes: wrong SMTP_HOST or SMTP_PORT, bad credentials, firewall blocking outbound on the SMTP port, or a self-signed certificate on the SMTP server.

Fix:

1. Check server logs for Email send failed:

   docker logs <container> 2>&1 | grep "Email send failed"

2. If the error mentions TLS or certificate, set SMTP_SKIP_TLS_VERIFY=true.
3. Verify the port: 587 for STARTTLS, 465 for implicit TLS, 25 for plain SMTP.
4. Test connectivity from the container:

   docker exec <container> nc -zv <SMTP_HOST> <SMTP_PORT>

Note: If no SMTP is configured at all, TREK prints the reset link directly to the server logs (===== PASSWORD RESET LINK =====). This is useful for initial setup or self-hosted installs without email.

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CORS error — API requests blocked in the browser

Cause: If ALLOWED_ORIGINS is set, only those origins are permitted. Any request from a different origin is rejected with a CORS error visible in the browser console.

Fix: Add your origin to the comma-separated list:

environment:
  - ALLOWED_ORIGINS=https://trek.example.com,https://other.example.com

If ALLOWED_ORIGINS is not set, TREK allows all origins (development default). See Environment Variables.

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WebSocket closes immediately after connecting (codes 4001 / 4403)

Cause: The /ws endpoint requires an ephemeral token generated by the client immediately before connecting. If the token is missing, expired, or the user's session state changed, the server closes the connection with a specific code:

Code	Reason
4001	No token, expired/invalid token, or user not found — re-login required
4403	MFA is required globally but the user has not enabled it

Fix:

• Code 4001: Log out and log back in. If it persists, check that your reverse proxy is not stripping the token query parameter from the WebSocket upgrade request.
• Code 4403: The user must enable MFA in Settings > Security, or an admin can disable the global MFA requirement in Admin > Settings.

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Clipboard features not working (copy link, share, etc.)

Cause: The browser Clipboard API (navigator.clipboard) is only available in a secure context. When accessing TREK over plain HTTP on a non-localhost address, the API is unavailable and clipboard operations silently fail or show an error.

Fix: The only supported options are:

• Access TREK over HTTPS with a valid SSL certificate.
• Access TREK directly from http://localhost:<port> — browsers treat localhost as a secure context for the Clipboard API (unlike the session cookie, which always requires HTTPS regardless of hostname).

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Place photos not loading / place thumbnail shows default map pin (Google Maps API key configured)

Cause: When a Google Maps API key is set, TREK fetches photo references and image bytes from the Google Places API on the server side. If the server-side call is rejected or returns no photos, the /place-photo/:id endpoint returns 404 and the place falls back to the default map-pin thumbnail. The most common causes are:

1. HTTP referrer restriction on the API key. Google Cloud Console lets you restrict a key to specific HTTP referrers. Because TREK calls Google from the server (not the browser), it sends a Referer header derived from APP_URL. If APP_URL is not set, the fallback is http://localhost:<PORT>, which will not match any domain whitelist in GCP.

2. Wrong key restriction type. API keys restricted by HTTP referrers are designed for browser-side JavaScript. For a self-hosted server application, use IP address restrictions instead — add the public IP of your TREK server and no APP_URL configuration is needed.

3. Places API (New) not enabled. The key must have Places API (New) enabled in Google Cloud Console under APIs & Services → Enabled APIs. Enabling only the legacy Places API is not sufficient.

4. Billing not set up. Google requires a billing account to be linked to the project even within the free tier. Without it, photo and details requests return REQUEST_DENIED.

Fix for HTTP referrer restriction:

Set APP_URL to the public URL of your instance and add that URL (or its domain with a wildcard, e.g. https://trek.example.com/*) to the allowed referrers in GCP:

environment:
  - APP_URL=https://trek.example.com

Fix for wrong restriction type:

Switch the key's "Application restrictions" from HTTP referrers to IP addresses in Google Cloud Console, and add your server's public IP. No APP_URL change needed.

Verifying the issue:

Run the following curl command using your key to check whether Google returns photo references:

curl "https://places.googleapis.com/v1/places/<PLACE_ID>" \
  -H "X-Goog-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "X-Goog-FieldMask: photos"

If the response is {} or {"error": {...}}, the key or its restrictions are blocking the request. If it returns a photos array, the key is valid and the issue is elsewhere.

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MCP OAuth flow does not initiate / "Connect" redirects but authentication never starts

Cause: TREK builds the OAuth 2.1 redirect URI from APP_URL. If APP_URL is not set, the authorization URL is constructed from a localhost fallback that external clients (Claude.ai, Claude Desktop) cannot reach, so the OAuth handshake never completes.

Fix: Set APP_URL to the public URL of your instance:

environment:
  - APP_URL=https://trek.example.com

Restart the container after adding the variable. Once set, clicking Connect in the MCP client should redirect to your TREK instance and complete the OAuth flow normally.

Note: APP_URL is required for any MCP OAuth integration. Without it, the authorization endpoint resolves to http://localhost:<PORT>, which is unreachable from external MCP clients.

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MCP integration: "Too many requests" or "Session limit reached"

Cause: Each user is limited to 300 MCP requests per minute and 20 concurrent sessions by default. Exceeding either limit returns a 429 response.

Fix: Increase the limits via environment variables:

environment:
  - MCP_RATE_LIMIT=600          # requests per minute per user (default: 300)
  - MCP_MAX_SESSION_PER_USER=50 # concurrent sessions per user (default: 20)

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MCP requests blocked by Cloudflare WAF (Bot Fight Mode)

Cause: When TREK is proxied through Cloudflare, Bot Fight Mode and Super Bot Fight Mode classify requests from ChatGPT as bots and block them at the WAF level — before the request ever reaches TREK. This is specific to ChatGPT; Claude.ai is not affected. ChatGPT's exit node IPs have low reputation scores in Cloudflare's threat intelligence and the User-Agent matches Cloudflare's automated-traffic heuristics. TREK itself never receives the request, so there is nothing in TREK's logs; the block is silent from TREK's perspective.

Symptoms:

• ChatGPT shows a connection error or times out immediately after OAuth completes.
• Cloudflare's Security → Events log shows blocked requests to /mcp with action block and source bfm (Bot Fight Mode) or managed_rule.

Fix — Option 1: Disable Bot Fight Mode (free plan and paid plan)

In the Cloudflare dashboard for your zone: Security → Bots → Bot Fight Mode → Off (or Super Bot Fight Mode → Off).

This is the only option available on the free plan. It disables bot blocking for the entire zone — all probe bots, scrapers, and crawlers that Cloudflare would otherwise block will reach your server. Only use this if you have no alternative.

Fix — Option 2: WAF skip rule for MCP paths (paid plan only)

WAF custom rules require a paid Cloudflare plan (Pro or above). This option is not available on the free plan.

Create a WAF skip rule that bypasses bot management only for the MCP and OAuth paths, leaving protection in place for the rest of the site:

1. Go to Security → WAF → Custom rules and click Create rule.

2. Enter the following expression (replace trek.example.com with your domain):

   (http.host eq "trek.example.com") and (
     http.request.uri.path eq "/mcp" or
     http.request.uri.path starts_with "/oauth/" or
     http.request.uri.path starts_with "/.well-known/"
   )
   

   This covers all paths that ChatGPT's servers hit during discovery, OAuth, and MCP calls:

   Path	Purpose
   /mcp	MCP endpoint (GET, POST, DELETE)
   /oauth/authorize	OAuth authorization handler
   /oauth/register	Dynamic client registration
   /oauth/token	Token issuance
   /oauth/userinfo	User info (for domain claiming)
   /oauth/revoke	Token revocation
   /.well-known/oauth-authorization-server	RFC 8414 AS metadata
   /.well-known/oauth-protected-resource	RFC 9728 flat resource metadata
   /.well-known/openid-configuration	OIDC discovery

3. Set the action to Skip and check Bot Fight Mode (and/or Super Bot Fight Mode) under the skip options.

4. Save and deploy.

This allows MCP and OAuth traffic through while keeping Cloudflare bot protection active for all other paths.