Error 500 yunohost

[Netkela]

The 500 error constantly occurs, I set Many-Notes via yunohost. This is discussed in more detail here in the thread https://forum.yunohost.org/t/login-many-notes/37454/3

[brufdev]

Can you paste here your compose.yaml file here so I can take a look?

[Netkela]

Unfortunately, I don't know where to get it in Yunohost

[brufdev]

I'm not familiar with Yunohost. How did you try to set up Many Notes there?

[Netkela]

I recorded a video https://komododecks.com/recordings/m2f4uZ7D0ZKWZ98allHx

[brufdev]

That's most probably a permission issue. The application is unable to write on disk and is throwing a 500 error. To see the actual error message, you need to add this to the compose.yaml environment variables:

- APP_DEBUG=true

The problem seems to be that you can't access the configuration settings. Since I'm not familiar with YunoHost, I have some questions:

1. Are you installing Many Notes in a VPS or in your homelab?
2. What OS is installed?
3. Are you using Docker?
4. Did you install Many Notes through some kind of interface or did you follow the installation instructions?

[Netkela]

Every time autosave is triggered (for example, when I edit a note and the app tries to save it automatically), a large 500 Internal Server Error appears on the screen. If I click anywhere, the error disappears, but it comes back every time autosave runs.

In the browser console, I see repeated errors like:

`Uncaught You must pass your app key when you instantiate Pusher.
Alpine Expression Error: Echo is not defined

Expression: "Echo.private('User.1').listen('UserNotifiedEvent', (e) => { $wire.$refresh(); });"
Uncaught ReferenceError: Echo is not defined
`
This happens on every autosave, and also when opening or switching notes.

What I see in the browser:

A full-screen 500 error pops up on every autosave or Livewire update. The browser console is filled with errors about Echo and Pusher not being defined or missing app key.The UI becomes unstable because of these errors.

Technical details:
Platform: YunoHost (latest version)
Many Notes was installed from the YunoHost app catalog.
I did not perform any manual configuration for Laravel Echo, Pusher, or WebSocket server.
The .env file or environment variables for PUSHER_APP_KEY, PUSHER_APP_SECRET, etc. are either missing or not set.
There is no WebSocket server running by default after installation on YunoHost.

What I think is happening:

Many Notes expects Laravel Echo and Pusher (WebSocket) to be configured and running.

On YunoHost, these are not set up automatically, so the frontend JavaScript tries to use Echo and Pusher but fails, causing JavaScript errors and backend 500 errors.

The application does not gracefully handle the absence of a WebSocket server or Pusher credentials.

Suggestions for improvement:

Add a check during installation or startup to ensure that Pusher/Echo environment variables are set.
If WebSocket is not configured, disable or hide collaborative features and avoid running JS code that relies on Echo/Pusher.
Show a user-friendly warning if real-time features are unavailable, instead of a 500 error or JavaScript crash.
Consider improving YunoHost integration so that these services are configured automatically or skipped gracefully.

Steps to reproduce:
Install Many Notes via YunoHost (default settings).
Open the web interface and create or edit a note.
Wait for autosave to trigger or try to collaborate.
Observe the 500 error and JavaScript errors in the browser console.

Thank you for your work on Many Notes! I hope this helps clarify the issue and makes it easier to improve compatibility with YunoHost and similar self-hosted environments.

Best regards!

[brufdev]

I think the 500 errors and the WebSocket errors are caused by different issues, but the main problem is that they are serving Many Notes to their users without a proper installation. I don't believe the solution is to adapt the application to incorrect or incomplete installations. The WebSocket, for example, powers not only the collaboration feature but also the ability for a single user to use multiple devices simultaneously.

I have built a ready-to-use Docker image, allowing anyone to run Many Notes without the need for manual configuration. Since this is ongoing development, it takes too much time for me to maintain other installation methods up to date.