Known issue: logged-out search not working right now

December 10, 2017 7:18 AM

Quick heads up since a number of folks have noted/asked about this: yes, the search function for logged-out readers is currently not working. It throws up a complaint that is unhelpful but also not dangerous: "Unauthorized access to internal API. Please refer to...". We'll have it fixed soon, but just a heads up that (a) it is indeed a thing and (b) it's not something to worry about. Sorry about the annoyance!
posted by cortex (staff) to Bugs at 7:18 AM (4 comments total)

Note that logged-in users can still search just fine: we use a hand-tuned internal search engine for that, which is pretty robust but also too computationally expensive to expose to random sundry driveby internet traffic, so for non-logged-in traffic we provide a google Custom Search template which is less ideally matched to MetaFilter but also doesn't cost the server an arm and a leg when ten thousand bots come by searching for this or that.

There was a change recently to the Custom Search product, which seems to have included a hard deprecation of the code we'd been using, so we just need to get new stuff slotted in.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:21 AM on December 10, 2017

I was logged out and tried a search and got that that notice. So I logged in and hit the little search button again and still got that notice. Maybe I should have started the search over in MF box. At least, now I know. Thanks.
posted by MovableBookLady at 9:22 AM on December 10, 2017

I don't like that error message. I suggest instead "HAZARDOUS CPU CONDITION DETECTED. CLEAR THE AREA AT ONCE. THIS IS NOT A DRILL"
posted by thelonius at 7:28 AM on December 11, 2017 [2 favorites]

seems to have included a hard deprecation

Story of my life, right there.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:03 PM on December 11, 2017