CITATION.cff: array values for license are no longer permitted (non-compliant with spec), vague error message

[MattF-NSIDC]

Browser & OS (see also https://www.whatismybrowser.com/): Firefox:Pop!_OS

Describe the bug

My org has many repos which are set up with the integration so each release triggers a new DOI. Recently, all repos that were working started reporting Citation metadata load failed with no further detail, e.g.:

{
    "error_id": "b53352b68db9462d8d9824235025d803",
    "errors": "Citation metadata load failed"
}

Impacted repos include:

• https://github.com/nsidc/earthaccess
• https://github.com/nsidc/agu2023-qgreenland-cryocloud : For this repo, I've integrated cffconvert to check our CFF is valid, found some errors, fixed them, but still getting Citation metadata load failed from Zenodo.

I eventually determined that the problem is that in my org we always use array values for the license key. The Citation File Format specification permits array values, however, and Zenodo pre-InvenioRDM migration accepted these array values.

Steps to Reproduce

1. With a GitHub repository with Zenodo integration enabled
2. Use an array of strings for the license key in CITATION.cff (this doesn't require a change; any repository that was working >1 month ago using an array of strings broke when the InvenioRDM migration occurred)
3. Release
4. See error

Workaround

Change the value of the license key to a string.

If your project is multi-license, you may need to manually edit your Zenodo record to correctly indicate this

Expected behavior

• Descriptive errors to help me fix whatever the problem is.
• Compliance with Citation File Format specification, so we can use tools like cffconvert to know in advance whether our file will trigger an error.

Screenshots (if applicable)

Additional context

[MattF-NSIDC]

Is it related to #1181? The error message is different, and I haven't been able to find any other instances of Citation metadata load failed message by searching. No

[MattF-NSIDC]

Update: I got a release to happen, but I don't know why. Here's what I removed to make it work:

-license: ["MIT"]
-keywords:
-  - "education"
-  - "cloud"
-  - "open science"
-  - "GIS"
-  - "QGIS"
-  - "Greenland"
-  - "QGreenland"
-  - "CryoCloud"
-
-url: "https://github.com/nsidc/agu2023-qgreenland-cryocloud"
-repository-code: "https://github.com/nsidc/agu2023-qgreenland-cryocloud"
-
-version: "0.0.1"
-date-released: "2023-12-07"

I have no idea what part of that is the problem...

EDIT: I re-tested an earlier failed release in case the issue was intermittent, and that release failed again. So it's definitely something in the above diff.

For all these different versions, cffconvert is validating the file as correct!

[MattF-NSIDC]

I determined the issue: license may no longer be an array, it must be a string for Zenodo to correctly handle it. I believe this is a regression on Zenodo's side, as my organization has always used arrays for the license key (e.g. this release in July 2023), and the Citation File Format specification indicates arrays are supported.

I'm updating the OP with the new information! Thank you :)