Removed Shared Folders Keep Returning when Keybase is Restarted

[wls]

Keybase GUI Version: 5.5.0-20200526170801+139bb348af

SCENARIO I needed to exchange a file, once, with a user that wasn't using Keybase; hoping this would make them an adopter, I had them create a Keybase account, and then I did the /keybase/private/me,them to set up a private share. We exchanged files, but we are unlikely to ever do so again in the future. I'd like the /keybase/private/me,them folder on my disk gone.

PROBLEM Each time I delete it from disk (using osMac, via the Finder or the command line), it appears to come back at some future point in time and is likely related to restart of KeyBase, the reboot of the machine, or some synchronization with another device.

When I'm using the desktop Keybase app, I see the folder; using the More Actions button to the right of the folder (since one doesn't right-click the item for some reason), the only viable option is "Ignore this folder" in red. And, I'd make the case that "ignoring" isn't the same as "deleting".

Selecting "Ignore this folder" in the desktop app, does make it disappear from the desktop app's list, but it does not remove the folder from disk. Moreover, when simply moving focus back to the Finder window listing the private shared Keybase folder, it //reappears// in the desktop app instantly.

FEATURE REQUEST Remove, for real and permanently, a shared folder within Keybase.

DIFFERENT FROM SIMILAR ISSUES REPORTED PREVIOUSLY No idea if this is comprehensive, but search results showed:

• #2284 -- This says to remove the directory; I did it this way, but it keeps returning.
• #2068 -- Similar removal problem
• #3729 -- Remove problem, but for Windows specifically

With regard to #2844, I suspect that because the folder is deleted, an early success is claimed. However, this issue is with regard to them returning at a future point.

It appears that users, upon seeing the folder gone, think it worked. I, myself, fell into this category initially, but would be confused days / weeks / months later when I stumble into the folder I "thought" I had deleted and merely remove it again, and go through another cycle. Only when this happened enough times did I opt to dig deeper.

It turns out that restarting Keybase (or rebooting, which launches Keybase) is an uncommon event. And that's what causes the deleted folders to return.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE

1. Create a shared folder in your Keybase private area with another user and yourself
2. Put something in that folder
3. On another device of yours with Keybase, validate you can see the folder with the content in it
4. Have the other person validate they can see the content in the folder
5. Delete the folder's contents (this works fine, there is no issue)
6. Now, on your primary computer, delete the shared folder between you and that user. You may use Finder or the CLI.
7. Give it some time to sync
8. Quit Keybase completely
9. Validate the folder is still gone (in fact, the Keybase folder itself shouldn't be around at this point) -- this is where most people appear to have stopped testing and declaring success prematurely
10. Start Keybase
11. Notice that both from the desktop Keybase app and from the Finder, the folder you had just deleted has returned

In fact, if you have your iPhone open to the Keybase App and are looking at your private folder, you'll see the folder be deleted at step 6. At step 11 ½ as Keybase starts and the user has had no other interaction at all, on either device, the iPhone's Keybase App will show the removed directory structure being restored.

This is 100% repeatable. Validated on macOS Mojave v10.14.6 and iOS 14.2 & 14.3.

[lucymhdavies]

Getting the same issue across several versions of macOS and iOS

[wls]

2024-10-12 -- four years later -- this problem still haunts me with the same folder that will not go away.