Troubleshooting

Examples on this page use the PyPI command github_monitor. If you installed the manual script, replace that command with the matching command prefix.

Doctor Preflight

Run the comprehensive preflight before monitoring a new target or when a working setup starts failing:

github_monitor --doctor <github_target>

Doctor checks the active settings without writing files. The report covers:

• Environment: Python and dependencies
• Configuration: settings, secret sources, TLS verification and output files
• Authentication and Connectivity: token validation and network access
• Target and Monitoring: profile access and tracked feeds
• Notifications: email and webhook readiness

Results use [PASS], [WARN], [FAIL] or [SKIP]. Warnings and failures include a To fix: action and relevant guide links. Doctor exits 1 if a check or approved delivery test fails and 0 otherwise.

When stdin is interactive and a notification channel is ready, doctor offers a separate default-no approval for one real email and one real webhook. A piped or non-interactive run never sends messages. Review the sanitized report before posting it because targets, paths and recipient addresses can still identify your setup.

Follow the report's Next steps after correcting any failed checks. The printed start command uses the configuration and dotenv files you checked.

Common Problems

Every failure is reported in the same three-part shape: what went wrong, a To fix: action and a Guide: link to the page that covers it. The fix command matches how you installed the tool and carries the --config-file or --env-file you started with, so it can be pasted as it is. --debug appends a Technical detail: line for bug reports. Secrets are redacted from all three.

Symptom	Likely cause	Where to look
The token is rejected	The personal access token expired or was revoked	GitHub Personal Access Token then run --set-github-token
A run reports a missing username	Neither a positional target nor TARGET_GITHUB_USERNAME is set	Configuration File
Rate limit warnings	The polling intervals are too short for the token's quota	Check Intervals
The run stops naming a file and a line number	A configuration line is not a plain SETTING = value assignment	Configuration File
Emails never arrive	Incomplete SMTP settings	SMTP Settings then run github_monitor --send-test-email
Webhook alerts never arrive	Provider mismatch or a stale destination	Webhook Settings then run github_monitor --send-test-webhook
github_monitor is not found after installation	The shell has not picked up the new command	Installation and Command Problems
Escape sequences such as [36m printed as text or no colour at all	The terminal cannot display ANSI colour or colour was switched off	Terminal Colours Look Wrong
GitHub did not answer in time, GitHub could not be reached or GitHub is temporarily unavailable	A network problem between this machine and GitHub or a GitHub outage	Connection Problems
This process ran out of file descriptors	The operating system limit on open files was reached	Too Many Open Files

A continuing outage produces a * Monitoring degraded reminder once an hour, even when the liveness reminder is switched off. * Monitoring recovered marks recovery. Use --verbose to see the first failed check.

Connection Problems

GitHub did not answer in time and GitHub could not be reached mean a check got no answer from GitHub. GitHub is temporarily unavailable means GitHub answered with a server error. The report names the interval after which the check is retried, so a short outage needs no action. While the network is down only the first request prints its retry attempts, because the requests behind it stop retrying once it has shown that GitHub cannot be reached. A failure that lasts produces the hourly Monitoring degraded reminder and Monitoring recovered when it clears.

If the failure continues, check the internet connection, DNS and any firewall or proxy between this machine and GitHub. A certificate error points at TLS interception on the network, see TLS Verification. A server error that lasts is a GitHub outage, so wait for it to end.

To confirm that GitHub is reachable from this machine, run:

github_monitor --doctor

Too Many Open Files

This process ran out of file descriptors means the operating system limit on open files was reached. It is a local limit and not a GitHub problem. Raise it with ulimit -n 4096 in the shell that starts the tool or set LimitNOFILE= in the systemd unit, then restart the tool.

Terminal Colours Look Wrong

If escape sequences such as [36m appear as literal text, the terminal does not understand ANSI colour. Start the tool with --no-color or set COLORED_OUTPUT = False in the configuration file. On Windows, pip install colorama fixes the classic Command Prompt.

If colour is missing where you expect it, check in this order: --no-color on the command line, COLORED_OUTPUT in the configuration file, a NO_COLOR environment variable and whether output is redirected or piped. Colour is switched off in all of those cases and also when TERM is unset or set to dumb.

Log files never contain colour by design. To colour a saved log while reading it, see Coloring Log Output with GRC.

To change which colours are used, see Terminal Colours.

Choosing the Right Logging Level

• Default mode reports activity changes and important errors
• Verbose mode (--verbose) adds occasional state changes, a line naming where each delivered alert went and a complete startup summary without private values. Set DELIVERY_CONFIRMATIONS = False to keep verbose mode without those delivery lines
• Debug mode (--debug) adds sanitized request flow, scheduling details and internal diagnostics

Delivery confirmations name the recipient or webhook provider. DELIVERY_CONFIRMATIONS = False hides these optional success messages. Monitoring events, send attempts and errors remain visible.

Both --verbose and --debug show the complete startup summary, including notification settings and credential sources. Use it to check which configuration is active without displaying private values.

Start with --doctor. If the suggested fix does not resolve the issue, retry with --debug and include only sanitized output when opening a GitHub issue.

Verbose and Debug Output

--verbose adds the decisions a run made, in the same * lines as the rest of the output:

github_monitor <github_target> --verbose

--debug traces what the tool is doing in timestamped [DEBUG HH:MM:SS] lines:

github_monitor <github_target> --debug

Lines with details read Operation: key=value, key=value. Fields depend on the operation. Some results report outcome=OK, failed, degraded or skipped.

Installation and Command Problems

If Python or pip is missing, use the Python install walkthrough.

If github_monitor is not found after installation, close the terminal and open it again. On Windows with Python Install Manager, run py install --refresh to refresh command aliases. For a pipx installation, run pipx ensurepath then reopen the terminal. If you downloaded the script, use the manual command from its directory.

If pip reports an externally managed environment, follow the pipx steps in Installation. Use pipx upgrade github_monitor for later upgrades.

If the tool cannot import a dependency, install the dependencies with the same Python interpreter that runs the script. On macOS or Linux use python3 -m pip install -r requirements.txt. On Windows use python -m pip install -r requirements.txt. Match the requirements file to your downloaded script.

If a new terminal cannot find your saved settings, return to the directory used during setup or pass both --config-file and --env-file explicitly. Run github_monitor --doctor <github_target> to see which settings are loaded.

Invalid saved settings and state

If setup fails while saving, the configuration may already have changed. Correct the reported destination problem, rerun --setup with the same --config-file and --env-file paths then run --doctor before monitoring. The configuration backup restores non-secret settings only.

Timing values must be finite and within the documented range. Normal startup checks effective timing settings before monitoring. A configuration syntax error reports its file, line number and parser message without echoing source text that may contain credentials.

Malformed path settings and color-theme values are reported by Doctor with the setting name. Invalid color values are ignored while rendering help so you can still find the configuration commands.