Repeatedly getting the “Welcome, first use please: …” prompt

[quinncomendant]

I've seen this welcome message about five times since I started using Userscripts:

Welcome, first use please:
Open Userscripts App
to complete the initialization

My guess is that it appears after each app update. This shouldn't be necessary, since the app should retain its settings data between updates. It feels like a bug.

[ACTCD]

No, updating the app will not reset it.

The message appears because save location is not initialized.

Most likely you set a iCloud directory as save location, and because the directory is evicted by the OS, the path is inaccessible and reset.

So, did you:

• use iCloud Drive as save location ?
• not set "keep downloaded" to that iCloud directory ?

Reference:

• Script location resets to default #814

[sushione]

Same here, on iPadOS 18.
Scripts folder is in iCloud Drive, keep downloaded folder enabled. Userscripts.app loose path to this folder, need to re-select it manually, sometimes several times a day. And sometimes display wrong version number -see picture

[ACTCD]

@sushione I cannot reproduce the issue, and none of the previous several similar issues provide relevant logs to determine the issue.

Without a log, I really can't determine the real cause of the error, I can only rely on the logic of the code to speculate.

So it will be of great help if you could collect and provide relevant logs.

Install the beta app and refer to the following issues and video export logs:

• FAQ and How to Review Error Logs 常见问题和如何查看错误日志 #409
• feat: local native logger and better OOBE #761

The issue with version number 0.0.0 should have been fixed, but also only in beta:

• refactor: improve app webview initialization process #733

[19X17]

Just want to report I start to get this exact bug these few days. And I have set the directory in a local folder.

[ACTCD]

@19X17 Please try to gather logs to help locate the issue.

@everyone, please include at least your OS version and App version to help locking possible bugs in specific range of the system.

Thank you.

[sushione]

Lost path again today, using uptodate iPadOS (18.6.2) and latest testflight release (5.0.0beta16 c729099). Logs included

com.userscripts.macos.Userscripts-Extension.log
com.userscripts.macos.log

[ACTCD]

@sushione Thanks very much for providing the logs, which gives us the first time we see the related error log:

2025-08-30 08:47:45 +0000	Error	Userscripts-iOS-Safari-Extension	com.userscripts.macos.Userscripts-Extension	Userscripts_iOS_Safari_Extension/Preferences.swift	resolvBookmark(_:_:) - Impossible de communiquer avec une application d’aide.
2025-08-30 08:47:45 +0000	Info	Userscripts-iOS-Safari-Extension	com.userscripts.macos.Userscripts-Extension	Userscripts_iOS_Safari_Extension/Utilities.swift	getSaveLocation() - Uninitialized save location
2025-08-30 08:47:45 +0000	Error	Userscripts-iOS-Safari-Extension	com.userscripts.macos.Userscripts-Extension	Userscripts_iOS_Safari_Extension/Functions.swift	nativeChecks() - save location unset (iOS)

Impossible de communiquer avec une application d’aide. corresponding English message should be Couldn't Communicate with a helper application..

According to some quick search, the error should be related to iCloud File Provider.

We cannot resolve the error itself, it needs to be resolved by Apple.

But we will have the opportunity to better catch and handle the error.

I think what we could do at the moment is:

• Better error prompts UI, clearly displaying the error instead of directly resetting the directory
• Implement userscripts cache #817 to avoid the extension getting stuck due to this error

Implementing these will take a lot of time, and the current recommendation is to use a local folder rather than iCloud Drive.

[sushione]

Thanks, will test with new build.
Maybe you can add a button with "use same previous folder" so it can be set quickly for example ?

[ACTCD]

@sushione The new build does not make any changes to this issue.

Maybe you can add a button with "use same previous folder" so it can be set quickly for example ?

Thanks for the suggestion, but I think any simple changes at the moment will make things more confusing than simple, when we face thousands of users.

It is an upstream bug, but for the user it is reflected as an issue of the App (Extension).

When App/Extension cannot read the iCloud directory set by the user due to this upstream error, we must go through some kind of interrupt:

• If we don't reset the directory, it will manifest as sometimes the extension cannot be successfully injected into the scripts and are hard to detect.
• If we add a button without explaining it, the user will be confused about it, is it the expected behavior? Why should I use the button regularly?
• Since this error usually occurs in the automatic injection process, i.e. when the user does not interact with the popup or the app, we cannot directly display the error.

So we need to implement some kind of catching and recording mechanism to show errors or reset reasons the next time the user opens App/Extension. This will be a complex user interface and background logic reconstruction.

To truly solve this issue, we need to implement #817 so that we don't cause interruptions due to this upstream error. But this will be a complex background logic and injection process reconstruction.

The best way to avoid this issue at present is to use a local directory instead of an iCloud directory if you frequently encounter this upstream error.

[ACTCD]

Maybe you can add a button with "use same previous folder" so it can be set quickly for example ?

@sushione Sorry, I forgot to mention that this is also impossible because we cannot access "previous folder" if we can't resolve the bookmark.

In order to obtain access to the path outside the app sandbox, we must call the system's document Picker to obtain access to the directory selected by the user.

This is also the reason why this logic exists in the initially, that is, if the path outside the sandbox is unreachable (for example, the path is deleted by user), we can only reset it to the document path inside the sandbox.

[Flickering-Allies-0771]

I've encountered this issue multiple times as well. My current save location is a local folder under 'On My iPhone' in the Files app, not iCloud Drive. I haven't experienced this issue on my Mac, only on my iPad and iPhone.

[ACTCD]

@Flickering-Allies-0771 It would be best to provide error logs to help identify the exact cause.

a local folder under 'On My iPhone' in the Files app

Is it a folder belonging to another app?