markovbot crash with "MSG frException in thread auto tweeter"

[Emilio Xavier Esposito]

Hi @esdalmaijer
First, thank you for a great bot!

Every few days markovbot crashes with the following error:

MSG frException in thread autotweeter:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/threading.py", line 810, in __bootstrap_inner
    self.run()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/threading.py", line 763, in run
    self.__target(*self.__args, **self.__kwargs)
  File "/home/emilioxavier/markovbot/markovbot27.py", line 1221, in _autotweet
    self._error(u'_autotweet', u"Failed to post a tweet! Error: '%s'" % (e))
  File "/home/emilioxavier/markovbot/markovbot27.py", line 1384, in _error
    raise Exception(u"ERROR in Markovbot.%s: %s" % (methodname, msg))
Exception: ERROR in Markovbot._autotweet: Failed to post a tweet! Error: 'Twitter sent status 403 for URL: 1.1/statuses/update.json using parameters: (oauth_consumer_key=REMOVED&oauth_nonce=REMOVED&oauth_signature_method=HMAC-SHA1&oauth_timestamp=1513398340&oauth_token=REMOVED&oauth_version=1.0&status=Using%20MD%20simulation%20was%20used%20for%20learning.%20Results%20show%20how%20the%20intersection%20between%20two%20vertices%20of%20%CE%93.%20&oauth_signature=REMOVED)
details: {u'errors': [{u'message': u'Status is a duplicate.', u'code': 187}]}'

Any ideas what might be causing the error and crash? Does the error mean markovbot cannot reach the internet? The bot is running on a RaspberryPi (Linux hindbaer 4.9.35-v7+ #1014 SMP Fri Jun 30 14:47:43 BST 2017 armv7l GNU/Linux) and connects to the internet over wifi. Please let me know if you need more information.

Thank you for your help!
Emilio

[Edwin Dalmaijer]

Hi Emilio,

Thanks for the compliment!

Your error means that the bot tried to post a tweet that had the exact same content as one of its earlier tweets. If you're using the functions that auto-generate tweets based on a Markov chain, this could reflect having too little source material to create unique content. (The fewer source materials, the higher the chances of a particular combination of words occurring in the same order.)

Cheers,
Edwin

[Emilio Xavier Esposito]

Hi Edwin
Thank you for the explanation! A short list of keywords was causing the error.

Emilio