Fails to scan with error "Failed to get own user ID. Abort scanning."

[Cereal916]

This is the only thing I see in the logs, what am I missing?

ollama, paperless-ngx, and paperless-ai are all running in docker containers and setup went smoothly. I can see the documents in paperless-ai, but they show as unprocessed.

UPDATE:
My solution was updating from v1.8 -> 2.14.7

[MarcusBeckerle]

I just updated my Docker container from 2.5.? to 2.7.4 as I had exactly this error:
paperless-ai | Failed to get own user ID. Abort scanning.

Unfortunately it did not change, the error is still showing up.

[Cereal916]

ok, it looks like I'm missing something with the curl request. I'm just getting a paperless-ngx html login page as a response

curl --location --request GET http://paperless-ngx:8000/api/users/ --header 'Content-Type: application/json' --header "Authorization: Token XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX" --data '{params: {current_user: true,full_perms: true}}'

I'll take another stab at it tomorrow

[clusterzx]

I dont seem to have a username in my .env file, maybe thats the problem. My docker compose has PAPERLESS_USERNAME in the environment, is that the wrong variable?

UPDATE: nvm, I its there. I'll try to make the curl request and see what the response looks like.

You must not define the env through Docker itself. You have to do the setup only by webinterface!

[Cereal916]

I dont seem to have a username in my .env file, maybe thats the problem. My docker compose has PAPERLESS_USERNAME in the environment, is that the wrong variable?

UPDATE: nvm, I its there. I'll try to make the curl request and see what the response looks like.

You must not define the env through Docker itself. You have to do the setup only by webinterface!

Understood, it's defined in the UI settings as well.

[Cereal916]

Its odd. when I curl these requests from the paperless ai server I get an empty response body with a 302 response code

[lauer]

Its odd. when I curl these requests from the paperless ai server I get an empty response body with a 302 response code

That's a redirect response, it should also return which url/location it try to redirect the client to?

[Cereal916]

Could there possibly be additional logging added around this area of the code to help troubleshoot? Looking at the code it's unclear if any usernames came back at all, or if there was just no match. Maybe log a list of usernames returned?

…

On Mon, Mar 10, 2025, 12:34 PM Your friendly nerd ***@***.***> wrote: The username matches 100%. I changed the name of the admin paperless-ngx account and used the new name. Is there possibly an issue with updating the username, or using an admin account that could lead to this error? I dont know, the version is stable and has no known ground breaking bugs. So there is as I said an error on your side 99%. Sorry, but I dont know how to help here as this could have many issues related to many reasons. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#392 (reply in thread)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABZNUGIKFNXGCNCURMCIWX32TXSLLAVCNFSM6AAAAABYE6AKUOVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTENBVGM2TSMY> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[crazyelectron-io]

I too have this error:

Failed to get own user ID. Abort scanning.

It is indeed hard to debug without more logging (loglevel=DEBUG would be great).

EDIT: The complete log:

Current config TAGS: []
Current config PROMPT_TAGS: []
Validating Paperless config for: https://EXAMPLE.COM/api/documents/
Validating Paperless config for: https://EXAMPLE.COM/api/documents/
AI provider: ollama
2025-03-20T22:12:38: PM2 log: App name:paperless-ai id:0 disconnected
2025-03-20T22:12:38: PM2 log: App [paperless-ai:0] exited with code [0] via signal [SIGINT]
2025-03-20T22:12:38: PM2 log: App [paperless-ai:0] will restart in 100ms
2025-03-20T22:12:38: PM2 log: 0 application online, retry = 3
2025-03-20T22:12:38: PM2 log: App [paperless-ai:0] starting in -cluster mode-
2025-03-20T22:12:38: PM2 log: App [paperless-ai:0] online
Loading .env from: /app/data/.env
Loaded environment variables: {
  PAPERLESS_API_URL: 'https://EXAMPLE.COM',
  PAPERLESS_API_TOKEN: '******',
  LIMIT_FUNCTIONS: {
    activateTagging: 'yes',
    activateCorrespondents: 'yes',
    activateDocumentType: 'yes',
    activateTitle: 'yes',
    activateCustomFields: 'no'
  }
}
OpenAPI specification saved to /app/OPENAPI/openapi.json
Server running on port 4568
Validating Paperless config for: https://EXAMPL.COM/api/documents/
AI provider: ollama
Failed to get own user ID. Abort scanning.
Current config TAGS: []
Current config PROMPT_TAGS: []
Failed to get own user ID. Abort scanning.

[clusterzx]

Also a typical problem is that the user does not have the rights to access the /api/user/ route of ngx.

Make sure the api key has all rights.

[crazyelectron-io]

I changed the config to bypass Traefik and connect directly from Paperless-ai to Paperless-ngx as they are connected to the same Docker network, but I still get the same error.

To test it further, I executed a few curl commands from within the Paperless-ai container that worked just fine using the token specified in the Paperless-ai configuration (through the webUI setup process).

curl -H "Authorization: Token 4e****78" http://paperless:8000/api/document_types/

{"count":12,"next":null,"previous":null,"all":[3,1,22,20,11,19,8,5,21,7,18,4],"results":[{"id":3,"slug":"boek","name":"Boek","match":"","matching_algorithm":6,"is_insensitive":true,"document_count":0,"owner":5,"user_can_change":true},{"id":1,"slug":"contract","name":"Contract",".....................

curl -H "Authorization: Token 4e****78" http://paperless:8000/api/users/

{"count":3,"next":null,"previous":null,"all":[7,3,5],"results":[{"id":7,"username":"**REDACTED**","email":"**REDACTED**","password":"**********","first_name": ......................

I don't know how to troubleshoot this further. What API call is Paperless-ai making that triggers this error?

[Cereal916]

Its odd. when I curl these requests from the paperless ai server I get an empty response body with a 302 response code. The only time I get a json in the response is when I curl http://paperless:8000/api/

When I try this request via postman it looks like it just redirects to a sign in page.

[crazyelectron-io]

The only time I get a json in the response is when I curl http://paperless:8000/api/
To my knowledge that is how it is supposed to work: you specify just the base URL in the configuration and the application adds /api to it when making requests/posts. 302 is just a redirect response.

[clusterzx]

This issue is always an end user produced error. Many people had this in history. Sometimes it was a wrong username, sometimes an rights issue with the api key, sometimes it was because of some custom Reverse Proxy Nightmare system.

[patrickhilker]

In my case, the solution was to use the actual user name instead of my user's e-mail address. I always use the email address to log in, so I used it out of habit.

Perhaps both username and e-mail address should be possible, as they can easily be confused by the user (I think the change needs to be made here:

paperless-ai/services/paperlessService.js

Line 1098 in fb816f3

const user = userInfo.find(user => user.username === process.env.PAPERLESS_USERNAME);

).

[crazyelectron-io]

I use the OIDC login method for Paperless-ngx with my email address as ID, but the username field, as specified in the user profile in Paperless-ngx, is what I use in the Paperless-ai UI setup. The token created in Django under that user is what I use and when running the curl commands to access the API from within the Paperless-ai container they work just fine.

So, time to look at the source where these messages are generated. At first glance, there are 3 places that can log this error. I suppose I'll have to run the program in development mode to figure out where it actually fails.

[Snowi236]

Had the same problem and it automatically got solved by updating Paperless NGX as (my) version 1.xx didn't have the /api/users/ model, so the function getOwnId failed.

[clusterzx]

This issue is always an end user produced error. Many people had this in history. Sometimes it was a wrong username, sometimes a rights issue with the api key, sometimes it was because of some custom Reverse Proxy Nightmare system.

[Cereal916]

Pain points I've seen in this thread

• Make sure your paperless ngx user has all permissions in the ngx settings
• Make sure you're using username and not email
• make sure your ngx username and token are set in your paperless ai settings
• make sure you are on paperless ngx v2.x

[crazyelectron-io]

• Make sure your paperless ngx user has all permissions in the ngx settings

The user as specified in paperless-ai has all the access rights assigned to it in paperless-ngx

• Make sure you're using username and not email

Confirmed multiple times that the username specified in paperless-ngx is also as specified in paperless-ai during setup.

• make sure your ngx username and token are set in your paperless ai settings

Confirmed multiple times that both are set correctly. The token also works fine when running curl commands inside the paperless-ai container with that token copied and pasted (for instance curl -H "Authorization: Token 4e****78" http://paperless:8000/api/users/).

• make sure you are on paperless ngx v2.x

Running paperless-ngx 2.14.7.

[lauer]

what about the reverse proxy? hare you hosting the paperless-ng in same docker host as the ai?
Its important that it uses its local internal paperless hostname inside docker.

[crazyelectron-io]

I run both containers in the same Docker network (on the same host as well) and they access each other directly, like http://paperless:8000/api.

[clusterzx]

This issue is always an end user produced error. Many people had this in history. Sometimes it was a wrong username, sometimes an rights issue with the api key, sometimes it was because of some custom Reverse Proxy Nightmare system.

[crazyelectron-io]

I suppose it must be some error on my side but as mentioned before, I ruled out all the suggested issues.

There are 3 potential sources for this particular error message as I noticed in the source code. So, I suppose I'll have to do some debugging with the development environment to figure out the exact cause.

[clusterzx]

Do you use something like traefik, caddy or other reverse proxy systems. Or do you use some special authentication systems?

[crazyelectron-io]

I use Traefik for external access, but not between paperless-ngx and paperless-ai. They both run on the same Docker network and paperless-ai accesses paperless directly using the service name http:/paperless:8000.

And as said, running curl from inside paperless-ai against the API endpoints, with the token copied from the paperless-ai WebUI, I get the correct responses from paperless.

[felsnerino]

I have exactly the same problem. I also checked already everything. The "/users/" endpoint gives me all users. It also shows the user I try to use. I even tried 2 different users. The initial admin one, whose name is "paperless" in my case and then also my personal one "rfe". Both are super users. The manual curl requests are also in my case successful. And strangely I also saw the login page in one of the debug logs. This is quite a pity, would have been great to use a local LLM model to enhance paperless. I am happy to try something else. I do run papperless on the same Docker environment but in a different stack. I do run paperless and ollama in the same stack and ollame is confirmed to be working. I am not using anything in addition (reverse proxy, etc.).

[felsnerino]

full desclaimer - I am not an expert:
Ok, I started from scratch and deleted the ".env" file to trigger a setup.
I managed to debug in Edge - an noticed, that the API URL is without API at the end. Don't ask my why. I have provided it in the setup without. It was also saved properly. As requested and in the .env (not changed but automatically generated) file it is WITH:
PAPERLESS_API_URL=http://proxmoxdocker.knx:8001/api
PAPERLESS_API_TOKEN=xxx
PAPERLESS_USERNAME=paperless
AI_PROVIDER=ollama
SCAN_INTERVAL=*/30 * * * *
SYSTEM_PROMPT=You are a personalized document analyzer. Your task is to analyze documents and extract relevant information.\n\nAnalyze the document content and extract the following information into a structured JSON object>
PROCESS_PREDEFINED_DOCUMENTS=yes
TAGS=ai
ADD_AI_PROCESSED_TAG=yes
AI_PROCESSED_TAG_NAME=ai-verarbeitet
USE_PROMPT_TAGS=no
PROMPT_TAGS=
USE_EXISTING_DATA=no
API_KEY=xx
JWT_SECRET=xx
CUSTOM_API_KEY=
CUSTOM_BASE_URL=
CUSTOM_MODEL=
PAPERLESS_AI_INITIAL_SETUP=yes
ACTIVATE_TAGGING=no
ACTIVATE_CORRESPONDENTS=no
ACTIVATE_DOCUMENT_TYPE=no
ACTIVATE_TITLE=yes
ACTIVATE_CUSTOM_FIELDS=no
CUSTOM_FIELDS={"custom_fields":[]}
DISABLE_AUTOMATIC_PROCESSING=yes
AZURE_ENDPOINT=
AZURE_API_KEY=
AZURE_DEPLOYMENT_NAME=
AZURE_API_VERSION=
OLLAMA_API_URL=http://ollama:11434
OLLAMA_MODEL=mistral

If I now let it run - it will only generate the login page as a response.
If I manually adjust the URL to include the "/api" at the end - it will at least generate the proper result with the actual users. I will continue to check where the URL is encoded/processed...

[JokoBurger]

Hi have the same issue.

Paperless AI (Version 2.7.6) has it's own local Paperless user to access the API with full rights. The Paperless API works but Paperless AI has trouble to get the users ID.
In the Paperless NGX Logs I can see an error "[WARNING] [django.security.csrf] Forbidden (CSRF cookie not set.): /custom_fields/" that always occurs on a Paperless AI Server restart, so I'm assuming that this is related to this issue.

I'm running all Paperless services in a docker stack, using Authenik as identity provider (but not for the Paperless AI API user) and also nginx as reverse proxy (also not relevant for this issue, as the connection is directly via IP).

I've also a made a fresh Paperless AI installation resulting in the same problem.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

[felsnerino]

@clusterzx Can you please check this? I modified in the container the code of the paperless initialize to:

  initialize() {
    if (!this.client && config.paperless.apiUrl && config.paperless.apiToken) {
      // Ensure baseURL ends with /api
      const apiUrl = config.paperless.apiUrl.replace(/\/+$/, '') + '/api';
      this.client = axios.create({
        baseURL: apiUrl,
        headers: {
          'Authorization': `Token ${config.paperless.apiToken}`,
          'Content-Type': 'application/json'
        }
      });
    }
  }

When I attach myself the "/api" as it seems you also did for example during the testing of the URL during Setup - then suddenly it works:

I also see now documents in the Dashboard - and can even select a document manually... Can you please check yourself and fix? As this change will revert after restart of the container...

[jeboehm]

I can confirm that omitting the trailing slash works

[felsnerino]

This is/was my config (without ending "/"):

I can see that after pressing save it will pull the tags etc.

but then it will fail again after restarting after saving the config:

I am pulling/using the docker image, could it be, that something is off with the docker image? compared to the code itself currently on githup?

[WildEchoWanderer]

I tried to find the description of your problem but could not Find it. May you elaborate again?
Your log seems okay for me

[felsnerino]

Ok, when I again collected all the information for the answer. I noticed that in my docker stack somehow this made it into my compose file:

It is quite embarrassing that I missed it. So it seems it was overwriting the configured URL from the config file and using the one from the Docker Compose. Now when I uncommented this, it is working. Sorry again for the trouble, and thank you so much for the patience/trying to help.
@crazyelectron-io maybe that happened for you too?

[crazyelectron-io]

Unfortunately, my case seems different as I have no URL specified in the compose file for Paperless-ai, I just went through the webUI setup.
I'm on vacation this week but will do a complete check of the config when I get back.

[timtey88]

In summary, only choose 1 place to define PAPERLESS_API_URL either in .env or in UI during setup. Tested with both local and traefik routing:

Method 1: defining in .env:
PAPERLESS_API_URL=http://paperless:8000/api
PAPERLESS_API_URL=https://paperless.domain.my/api

Method 2: defining in UI (during setup):
Connection Settings -> Paperless-ngx API URL:
http://paperless:8000
https://paperless.domain.my

[crazyelectron-io]

Thanks for summarizing it. Unfortunately, I have specified the URL only in the UI during setup as http://paperless:8000 and not in an environment variable, but still I get the same error...

[aaronnewsome]

I don't want to seem unappreciative of all the hard work that has gone into this opensource project. I really do appreciate it but I just spent a few hours troubleshooting this issue

Failed to get own user ID. Abort scanning.

In the setup wizard I'd specified the paperless URL as http://paperless.swift.local/ which definitely did not work and caused the error. As pointed out above, removing the trailing slash fixes the issue.

This seems like a really simple fix, that would save users like myself grief. May I recommend to the author to strip the final / if one is entered during the setup?