Auto-connect fails: API returns 401 “Unauthorized.”

  • joanna999

    (@joanna999)


    1 week, 3 days ago

    Hi threadi,

    plugin 1.1.4 on WordPress 7.1.2 / PHP 8.3, ProvenExpert Premium account. Auto-connect never completes. I traced it:

    • The callback /provenexpertplugin/<hash>/?pluginId=…&setupToken=…&clientId=… reaches Setup::check_for_setup_return fine (rewrite rule and query var are registered).
    • Api::connect() then POSTs {"setupToken":…} to https://www.provenexpert.com/restapi/v1/plugins/<pluginId>/connect and gets HTTP 401 {"status":"error","errors":["Unauthorized."]}, no WWW-Authenticate header. Logged 6 times on 21/22 Sep 2026 in wp_provenexpert_logs.
    • Outbound HTTP works, no http_request_args/pre_http_request filters touch provenexpert.com.

    One thing I noticed in Request::send(): the body is JSON-encoded but no Content-Type: application/json header is set, so WP sends it as form-urlencoded. Could that be what the connect endpoint rejects? Or does the endpoint require something else (Basic auth, clientId)?

    I’ve also contacted ProvenExpert support with the pluginId. Happy to test a patch.

    Thanks!

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
  • Plugin Author threadi

    (@threadi)

    1 week, 3 days ago

    Hello,

    Thank you for your question. Unfortunately, Autoconnect is a bit problematic, but this isn’t due to the plugin – it’s because of how Propstack processes requests. As far as I know, this has to do with how requests are internally routed within their systems. You have there to go to “Integrations” and select WordPress, which I don’t always manage to do either. I’d be happy to bring this up in my next meetings with ProvenExpert.

    However, the “Unauthorized” message is, in turn, feedback from their systems indicating that a piece of information you provided is incorrect. If it were a format issue with the request, the message would be completely different. Their support team would need to resolve this, and it’s beyond my control.

    For this reason, there has been an option to manually enter the API credentials for quite some time now. You can find the necessary information here: https://www.provenexpert.com/de-de/personalisierte-umfragelinks/ and enter it under Settings > ProvenExpert > Connect. This method works immediately.

    Plugin Author ProvenExpert

    (@provenexpert)

    5 days, 4 hours ago

    Hi,

    Thanks for the detailed report, and to the plugin author for the quick reply. Your trace helped us find the issue quickly.

    The cause was on the ProvenExpert side, not in the plugin or your WordPress setup. When the auto-connect was started more than once for the same site (for example after an interrupted or repeated attempt), our server stored the setup token incorrectly. The plugin’s final connect request was then always rejected with 401 Unauthorized, however many times it was retried. A first-time connection wasn’t affected.

    On the Content-Type point: we checked it, and our API reads the JSON body correctly even without that header, so it wasn’t the cause here.

    The fix is now live. To connect, open Settings > ProvenExpert in WordPress and start the auto-connect once more. It should now complete. Entering the API credentials manually is no longer needed, though it keeps working.

    If it still fails for you, please reply here or contact our support, and we’ll look into it right away.

    Sorry for the trouble, and thanks again for the thorough report!

    Best regards

    ProvenExpert Support

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

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