CountAPI temporarily not working

[vdhamer]

For a few days, starting on May 1st 2023, the GitHub README.md file for Roadmap stated that the CountAPI was down:

Unfortunately the service that Roadmap uses to increment votes is currently down. We're looking into replacements / fixes!

Subsequent removal of the README message on May 4th (@jordibruin) suggests that the issue is now resolved. But it doesn't seem to work. In particular, I can't create a new workspace, increment counters or fetch counts (all 3 are done here in a single API call). Or at a more pragmatic level, that my app's voting on Roadmap items doesn't work.

I am aware that CountAPI was "sold" by the original developer @MLomb to a commercial API site in 2021. But it hasn't shown up as a paid service there yet.

Can we get a brief update on status, and whether/when it should work? In particular, this helps decide whether to (temporarily?) disable the Roadmap feature in our apps? [ not a big deal in my case, just requires an App update ]

Some initial testing on my side:

• one error message says An SSL error has occurred and a secure connection to the server cannot be made, suggesting a SSL certificate problem. CountAPI uses https.
• I tried switching to a fresh namespace. Didn't help: so it is not about "API works, but old counts are lost"
• I tried wiping local UserDefaults (remove and reinstall app). This UserDefaults entry prevents "duplicate voting" by storing an array of the Roadmap keys that your mobile device has already voted on.
• Ping times to api.countapi.xyz are long: 100 milliseconds (from The Netherlands to DigitalOcean USA).

[jordibruin]

They fixed it, but then it broke again after a day 😞 I'm in touch with them, and we're looking at alternatives. Sorry that it's taking so long!

[vdhamer]

https://github.com/AvdLee/Roadmap/issues/72

Won't be fixed anytime soon.

[JasonLovesDoggo]

I've written my own version of CountAPI in golang and it's been used reliably for around 2 months now.

If anyone is interested in switching to it http://abacus.jasoncameron.dev/

[FPST-08]

As far as I see this correctly, countabc.xyz works exactly like countapi.xyz. They share the same website and documentation apart from the different url. I think making countabc.xyz the default should fix this. I believe you really just need to switch the url.

[vdhamer]

As far as I see this correctly, countabc.xyz works exactly like countapi.xyz. They share the same website and documentation apart from the different url. I think making countabc.xyz the default should fix this. I believe you really just need to switch the url.

Interesting. "Sharing the same website" just means they share the same hosting service. I guess this may be the original author mlomb, who sold his API software, but it never got supported by the new, commercial owner. The countable site doesn't clearly say who is behind this, which leads to questions about support/uptime.

Is switching to Jason Cameron's (a young student in Canada) Abacus also just a matter of changing the URL? At least he is clearly supporting the site. CountAPI has an unclear post-transfer story.

[JasonLovesDoggo]

As far as I see this correctly, countabc.xyz works exactly like countapi.xyz. They share the same website and documentation apart from the different url. I think making countabc.xyz the default should fix this. I believe you really just need to switch the url.

Interesting. "Sharing the same website" just means they share the same hosting service. I guess this may be the original author mlomb, who sold his API software, but it never got supported by the new, commercial owner. The countable site doesn't clearly say who is behind this, which leads to questions about support/uptime.

Is switching to Jason Cameron's (a young student in Canada) Abacus also just a matter of changing the URL? At least he is clearly supporting the site. CountAPI has an unclear post-transfer story.

Actually, you can find the info behind countABC in the product hunt page. Just thought I would let you know.