DiscussionTools: Improve error message when hCaptcha challenge dismissed
Open, Needs TriagePublicBUG REPORT
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Assigned To

Authored By

	dom_walden
	Tue, Jun 2, 10:51 AM

Description

What is the problem?

When the hCaptcha challenge is dismissed or times out, the error message simply states: Invalid response from server.

We could make this more helpful to users.

Steps to reproduce problem

https://test.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Switch to talk page
Click "Start a discussion", "Add topic" or one of the "Reply" links
Make a reply which will trigger AbuseFilter (e.g. open the "Advanced" dropdown and enter "showcaptcha" in the edit summary)
When the hCaptcha challenge appears, dismiss it by clicking away or pressing Esc

Environment

Wiki(s): https://test.wikipedia.org MediaWiki 1.47.0-wmf.4 (d947039) 23:20, 1 June 2026. ConfirmEdit 1.6.0 (e408e17) 08:20, 28 May 2026.
Editor: Discussion tools – (6387c1a) 08:20, 25 May 2026.

Screenshots

Details

Related Changes in Gerrit:

	Subject	Repo	Branch	Lines +/-
	hCaptcha CaptchaWidget: Make execution errors human readable	mediawiki/extensions/ConfirmEdit	master	+103 -29
	Handle CAPTCHA errors appropriately	mediawiki/extensions/DiscussionTools	master	+5 -1

Customize query in gerrit

Related Objects

Mentioned Here: rEDTO6387c1ac6f52: Localisation updates from https://translatewiki.net.
rECOEe408e17f3fa8: hCaptcha: Regenerate VisualEditor captcha token per save attempt
rMWd947039b1cf7: Update git submodules

Event Timeline

dom_walden created this task.Tue, Jun 2, 10:51 AM

Restricted Application added a subscriber: Aklapper. · View Herald TranscriptTue, Jun 2, 10:51 AM

Dreamy_Jazz moved this task from Backlog to Ready on the Product Safety and Integrity (Sprint Iris (May 25 - Jun 12)) board.Tue, Jun 2, 11:26 AM

Change #1296698 had a related patch set uploaded (by Dreamy Jazz; author: Dreamy Jazz):

[mediawiki/extensions/ConfirmEdit@master] [WIP] hCaptcha CaptchaWidget: Make execution errors human readable

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1296698

Change #1296699 had a related patch set uploaded (by Dreamy Jazz; author: Dreamy Jazz):

[mediawiki/extensions/DiscussionTools@master] [WIP] Handle CAPTCHA errors appropriately

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1296699

Dreamy_Jazz claimed this task.Tue, Jun 2, 11:42 PM

Dreamy_Jazz moved this task from Ready to In progress on the Product Safety and Integrity (Sprint Iris (May 25 - Jun 12)) board.

Dreamy_Jazz moved this task from In progress to Needs review on the Product Safety and Integrity (Sprint Iris (May 25 - Jun 12)) board.Wed, Jun 3, 10:38 PM

Dreamy_Jazz renamed this task from Improve error message when hCaptcha challenge dismissed to DiscussionTools: Improve error message when hCaptcha challenge dismissed.Thu, Jun 4, 9:22 PM

DiscussionTools: Improve error message when hCaptcha challenge dismissedOpen, Needs TriagePublicBUG REPORTActions