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ProxySetup Endpoint - Debugging Guide

What I’ve Updated

I’ve enhanced the ProxySetup.svelte component with comprehensive logging and debugging to help identify why the backend request isn’t working correctly.

Changes Made:

  1. Enhanced Console Logging - The component now logs:

    • Request URL being called
    • Full request body
    • Response status and headers
    • Response body (success and error cases)
    • Detailed error messages with colored console output (🔵, 🟢, 🔴)

  2. Debug Info Display - The ProxySetup screen now shows:

    • The VITE_API_BASE value currently being used
    • The full URL being constructed for the request

  3. Better Error Handling:

    • Detects response content-type and parses accordingly
    • Shows user-friendly error messages
    • Validates that response is JSON before parsing

  4. Session Code Validation - Shows error if session code is missing

How to Debug

Step 1: Check Console Logs

When the ProxySetup screen appears:

  1. Open browser DevTools (F12)
  2. Go to “Console” tab
  3. The component will show:
    • Debug Info box with the API base URL and full endpoint URL being used
    • Expected URLs: http://localhost:8000/session/ABC123/proxy (adjust port/domain as needed)

Step 2: Click Continue and Watch Logs

When you select a senator option and click “Continue”:

  1. Look for 🔵 (blue circle) logs showing the request being sent
  2. Watch for response logs:
    • If you see 🟢 (green circle): Request succeeded! Check that the notice message appears
    • If you see 🔴 (red circle): Request failed. Error message will be displayed

Step 3: Common Issues and Solutions

Issue: “HTTP 401 Unauthorized”

Causes:

  • User is not authenticated with the auth service
  • Auth cookie is not being sent with request
  • Auth service session expired

Solutions:

  • Make sure you’re logged in via SignIn screen first
  • Check if auth service cookie is set (look in DevTools > Application > Cookies)
  • Try clearing cookies and re-authenticating

Issue: “HTTP 404 Not Found”

Causes:

  • API base URL is wrong
  • Endpoint path is incorrect
  • Backend isn’t running

Solutions:

  • Check the Debug Info box on the screen - verify the URL matches your backend
  • Make sure VITE_API_BASE environment variable is set correctly (e.g., http://localhost:8000)
  • Verify backend is running on the expected port: cargo run --bin backend

Issue: “HTTP 500 Internal Server Error”

Causes:

  • Backend crashed or database error
  • Session code doesn’t exist
  • Database not initialized

Solutions:

  • Check backend console for error messages
  • Verify database migrations have run
  • Try a known valid session code

Issue: “Expected JSON response, got text/html”

Causes:

  • Request is hitting a different endpoint (maybe a 404 page)
  • CORS issue preventing proper response

Solutions:

  • Verify the API base URL in Debug Info is correct
  • Check backend CORS configuration is allowing the request
  • Look at “Network” tab in DevTools to see actual response

Issue: “Error: Timeout” or no response at all

Causes:

  • Backend not running
  • Network connectivity issue
  • API base URL unreachable

Solutions:

  • Start backend: cd backend && cargo run --bin backend
  • Verify API base URL is accessible (try pinging it, or open in browser)
  • Check firewall/network settings

Step 4: Network Tab Inspection

For more detailed information:

  1. Open DevTools
  2. Go to “Network” tab
  3. Click “Continue” button
  4. Look for the proxy request
  5. Click on it to see:
    • Headers: Shows request headers (Content-Type, credentials)
    • Request: Shows the JSON body being sent
    • Response: Shows the server’s response
    • Timing: Shows how long the request took

Step 5: Backend Logs

If the console logs show the request was sent but you can’t see what the backend is doing:

  1. Run backend with verbose logging:
Terminal window
cd /home/yy/repos/voting-app/backend
RUST_LOG=debug cargo run --bin backend
  1. Look for logs about:
    • Incoming requests
    • Database queries
    • User authentication
    • Session lookups

Expected Behavior When Working

When everything is working correctly:

  1. ProxySetup screen appears with:

    • The correct session code
    • Debug info showing the API URL
    • Senator dropdown and optional proxy input

  2. You select options and click Continue:

    • Senator: Yes/No (required)
    • Proxying for: Name (optional)

  3. Console shows (in order):

    🔵 Sending proxy request: { url: "...", ... }
    🔵 Response received: { status: 200, statusText: "OK", ... }
    🟢 Success! Proxy response: { vote_instance_count: 2, is_senator: true, has_proxy: true }

  4. Success message appears:

    • “You now have 2 vote instances (your own vote + one proxy vote).”
    • Or appropriate message based on your configuration

  5. Moves to WaitingPage with the participation notice displayed

Testing the Endpoint Manually

If you want to test directly without the frontend:

Using curl:

Terminal window
curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/session/ABC123/proxy \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Cookie: <your_auth_cookie>" \
  -d '{"is_senator": true, "proxy_for": "Jane Doe"}'

Expected Response:

{
    "vote_instance_count": 2,
    "is_senator": true,
    "has_proxy": true
}

Using API Client (Postman, REST Client, etc.):

  1. Method: POST
  2. URL: http://localhost:8000/session/{SESSION_CODE}/proxy
  3. Headers:
    • Content-Type: application/json
    • Cookie: <auth_session_cookie>
  4. Body (JSON):
{
    "is_senator": true,
    "proxy_for": "Jane Doe"
}

Additional Debug Info

Backend Endpoint Details

  • Route: POST /session/{session_code}/proxy
  • Auth Required: Yes (needs valid session cookie)
  • Request Type: SetSessionProxyRequest
    • is_senator: bool (required)
    • proxy_for: Option<String> (optional, null if not proxying)
  • Response Type: SetSessionProxyResponse
    • vote_instance_count: number
    • is_senator: boolean
    • has_proxy: boolean

Frontend Environment Variables

Make sure these are set correctly:

Terminal window
# .env or .env.local
VITE_API_BASE=http://localhost:8000
# or for production:
VITE_API_BASE=https://api.example.com

Next Steps After Debugging

Once you identify the issue:

  1. If it’s an auth issue: Ensure auth service is running and cookies are being set
  2. If it’s a URL issue: Update VITE_API_BASE environment variable
  3. If it’s a backend issue: Check database, migrations, and server logs
  4. If everything works: Remove debug info display (optional - it won’t hurt to leave it)

To remove debug info display later, simply delete or comment out the <div class="debug-info"> block in ProxySetup.svelte.

Questions to Answer

When debugging, try to identify:

  • ✅ Is the request being sent at all? (Check console logs)
  • ✅ What is the response status code? (200, 401, 404, 500, etc.)
  • ✅ What is the API base URL being used?
  • ✅ Is the user authenticated? (Check cookies)
  • ✅ Is the backend running? (Try accessing /health endpoint)
  • ✅ Does the session code exist? (Check database or backend logs)

Good luck debugging!