Get a gist REST API returns 401

[augustjk]

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The Get a gist endpoint (https://docs.github.com/en/rest/gists/gists?apiVersion=2022-11-28#get-a-gist) used to work without authentication but now fails with status 401.

curl -L \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \
  https://api.github.com/gists/46a4024f8afa0c13a54b6d6645f7371f

{
  "message": "Requires authentication",
  "documentation_url": "https://docs.github.com/rest",
  "status": "401"
}%

We have been relying on this API for the Share via GitHub feature of https://lit.dev/playground/ where a user can sign in to create a (secret) gist of their playground with an authenticated call and can share the link to anyone to view as the request to retrieve the gist could be unauthenticated. This stopped working in the last few days.

I'm hoping this as a bug as this used to work and the documentation above does not list 401 as a possible response status, and is in line with general gist access patterns that secret gists are accessible to anyone with a link as described in https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/writing-on-github/editing-and-sharing-content-with-gists/creating-gists#about-gists.

Thanks!

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[StartAutomating]

I can confirm the issue also exists for public gists of a user.

Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://api.github.com/users/StartAutomating/gists"

This has been giving me 401s and breaking a build since ~15 hours ago.

First Broken Build
Last Working Build

Attempting to work around it by giving a workflow a GITHUB_TOKEN yields:

"message": "Resource not accessible by integration"

Please fix. Will have to disable this feature-set for now.

[increpare]

It is weird/inconsistent that the documentation page (here) says

You can read public gists anonymously, but you must be signed into GitHub to create gists.

( I'm experiencing this with my game engine here - increpare/PuzzleScript#1117 - we use anonymous gists for sharing, like the OP (e.g. https://www.puzzlescript.net/play.html?p=79543dee97fb5aaab6a267de31e186b3 no longer works unless you log into github via puzzlescript.net before (EDIT#2 - fixed by moving things to the server) ); requiring people to log in to play games is a non-starter. I guess if this is the new normal I'll have to move a bunch of stuff server-side? )

(EDIT#1: also affects flickgame increpare/flickgame#77 and a few other engines of mine, but only flickgame and puzzlescript are regularly in use)

[Draknek]

According to the API docs, changing authentication requirements should only happen with a new API version: https://docs.github.com/en/rest/about-the-rest-api/breaking-changes?apiVersion=2022-11-28

Since the API has been stable for some time, I'm hopeful this is a bug and will be fixed quickly.

(Another puzzlescript user here - this issue causes dozens of my games to be unplayable.)

[jalvarezit]

Found a similar behaviour when fetching this endpoint:

    const response = await fetch(
        `https://api.github.com/app-manifests/${code}/conversions`,
        {
            method: 'POST',
            headers: {
                'Accept': 'application/vnd.github+json',
                'Content-Type': 'application/json',
            },
        }
    );

Until yesterday worked just fine without token. we are following the manifest flow to register a GitHub App.

Suddenly it returns Unauthorized:

{
  "message": "Requires authentication",
  "documentation_url": "https://docs.github.com/rest",
  "status": "401"
}

Funny enough if you add a github token without any permissios in the requests works fine as before.

[increpare]

The Get a gist endpoint now requires authentication for secret gists, which explains the 401 error. This isn’t a bug but a policy change — secret gists are still viewable via browser if you have the link, but API access now needs a token.

huh, interesting - is this documented anywhere?

bypass the API and load the gist content through the raw file URL (which remains publicly accessible with the link
This requires you to know someone's username I think, which is a somewhat irksome thing because I've only been storing gist ids.

i.e. there's no way to get at the following file just from '79543dee97fb5aaab6a267de31e186b3' without knowing that increpare made it I think?

https://gist.githubusercontent.com/increpare/79543dee97fb5aaab6a267de31e186b3/raw/script.txt

[angilbert]

The issue, as stated in the first post, appears to be resolved.
Ref: https://www.githubstatus.com/incidents/3kjv06tdxxfn