Action Collection Error after updating to 2023.1

[jay (support)]

Sigh. This is apparently another macOS bug. I got a debug log from @Londonmark and it shows this:

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2023-11-11 17:43:31.328   ERROR   Plugin.runConcurrentThread:   shortcut_list: failed to get shortcut list: 'Error: Couldn’t communicate with a helper application.'


Doing some research out on the net indicates that others are experiencing this with Shortcuts but nobody seems to know why.

What macOS version are you guys running? I wonder if this is a Sonoma specific bug (wouldn't surprise me given the number of bugs in it).

@macpro, please restart the Indigo Server, wait a few minutes, then send the following log file to us at support@indigodomo.com with a link to this thread:

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/Library/Application Support/Perceptive Automation/Indigo 2023.1/Logs/indigoplugin.ActionCollection/plugin.log.

We'll see if the problem is the same or a different one.

[jay (support)]

BTW, I also should note that this is not likely to be specific to getting the shortcuts list. I expect that there are also periodic failures when Indigo attempts to run a shortcut and whatever conditions are met for this macOS bug happen the shortcut itself may not actually run.

All this to say that it might not be a good idea to use a shortcut for anything that's mission critical given that it could fail at any time with this mysterious bug.

@jay: You've got mail

[jay (support)]

@jay: You've got mail

Did you restart the Indigo Server (and wait a few minutes) before sending this log file like I asked?

Your log shows that they are actual Timeout errors. So when we run the following command from the plugin:

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/usr/bin/shortcuts list

It is not completing within 5 seconds. Given that you said you don't have many shortcuts, then it's most likely indicative of a problem either with macOS or the shortcuts app itself. We did fix a bug in 2023.1.1 that would cause it to fail if there were no shortcuts, but clearly that's not the issue now.

In the next release, we will be running that command in a way that will allow for much longer timeouts and also not reporting the error as often, but TBH I expect that it probably won't help. I think it's likely somehow related to the macOS bug we're seeing in @Londonmark's case, but it's unclear.

FWIW, that command runs in 0.01 seconds on my system:

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jkeenan@Kraken ~ % time /usr/bin/shortcuts list
Get Current Focus
Variable Value Notification
Disarm
Arm Away
Arm Stay
Christmas Tree Off
Christmas Tree On
Delivery
Day Shades
Dinner Time
Text Last Image
Shazam shortcut
Block Off an Hour
Music Quiz
/usr/bin/shortcuts list  0.01s user 0.01s system 64% cpu 0.027 total


Did you restart the Indigo Server (and wait a few minutes) before sending this log file like I asked?

Yes. Stopped and started the Indigo Server only. Waited approx. 5 minutes. Then zipped the logfile and sent it to you.

Your log shows that they are actual Timeout errors. So when we run the following command from the plugin:

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/usr/bin/shortcuts list

It is not completing within 5 seconds. Given that you said you don't have many shortcuts, then it's most likely indicative of a problem either with macOS or the shortcuts app itself. We did fix a bug in 2023.1.1 that would cause it to fail if there were no shortcuts, but clearly that's not the issue now.

When I run it on my personal Mac mini that is on Sonoma, it's 0,01s.
When I run it on my server Mac mini that is on Monterey, it hangs.

Restarted the server Mac and now it doesn't hang anymore. Instead it takes 0.049s.
And the Event log is no longer filling up with the error message.

[jay (support)]

Ah, good. I had assumed you tried a restart...

I am also getting frequent "Action Collection Errors" and have tried everything in the previous posts.
Unable to get the debug to fire up, also it sometimes crashes another plugin just after a timeout
I can supply logs if required but if no fix is on the horizon then I will go through the pain barrier and revert back to Ventura.
Seems to get worse after a few hours so do a reboot twice a day at present.

[jay (support)]

We're improving this for the next release (2023.2), hopefully it'll be out in a few weeks.

It's interesting that it's worse for you under Sonoma, though not at all surprising given the poor quality of that release.