Cannot load chat history and enter any prompt, both always end up with "500 Internal Server Error"

[tired ravine]

Bug Report:

Description:
I recall that in the past my chat history had lost once as well, while I have kind of ignored that and continue using with new chat, this issue seems to have suddenly occur today, as I was still able to enter prompt and get feedback without my oldest chat history the day before.

Using the mobile app for iOS has the exact same issue as well.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Open ChatGPT and login
2. Enter prompt in any chat

Expected result:

1. Sees my previous chat history
2. Receive feedback from my prompt

Actual result:

1. Cannot see my previous chat history, saw "Unable to load history" and retry doesn't help. From network inspector the request to "chat.openai.com/backend-api/conversations" got "500 Internal Server Error".
2. All prompts in the new chat (as I cannot get my chat history), whether it is 3.5/4/4 with plugin, got "Hmm...something seems to have gone wrong.", from network inspector the request to "chat.openai.com/backend-api/conversation" got "500 Internal Server Error"

Additional information

App: ChatGPT for iOS 1.2023.319 (14269)
Browser: Microsoft Edge 119.0.2151.97/Chrome 119.0.6045.200
OS: Windows 11 Pro/iOS 17.0.3

[south surge]

I have the same bug, I am very disappointed with Open AI, I pay for a service that does not work when I need it

[restive trench]

Hello! Edge and Chrome are both Chromium-based browsers--as a test, can you try Firefox? It's non-Chromium, so it might be different. Can try more troubleshooting after that of course! Same question for you @south surge

[tired ravine]

Hi @restive trench, first of all thanks for helping!

I've just tried FireFox and it is the same, for you reference using the iOS app has the exactly same issue as well, so I am guessing this might not be browser related?

[restive trench]

Thank you for confirming those! I'm wondering if it could be network related then. Do you have a VPN installed?

[tired ravine]

@restive trench Yes I have VPN installed, but it was not enabled, and I've also tried:

1. using my home's wifi
2. using my phone's mobile data
   They all ended up the same.

Apart from these, in order to verify whether this is only my account I've also used one of my friend's account and tried entering prompt, everything were normal with that account so I am suspecting this might be account/record related.

[restive trench]

What VPN do you have installed? Sometimes there's a secondary feature called something like "Web Protection" that can cause issues, and it needs to be disabled as well, even if the VPN itself is already disabled.

Also, between changing network settings like this, you might want to clear your browser cache, close/reload, that kind of thing, if you're not already, to try to make sure your network changes are read by the site/app.

[tribal timber]

Hey Solbus, it works on all these browsers if logged in as a different user who is not on a Plus Account.

[tired ravine]

It is NordVPN, and the protections are all off.
On top of that the FireFox I have used to try and verify the issue was freshly installed so I think there should not be any browser cache issue?

The thing is that everything is normal when I tried using my friend's account as I wanted to see whether it is my account's specific issue.

And as @tribal timber mentioned that account is not a Plus user while mine is subscribing Plus.

[restive trench]

I'm only speculating, but I imagine the telemetry for Plus accounts is different as it connects to different services, so if some of that Plus-only telemetry is finding intereference in one way or another, that could explain the Plus/free difference.

Thanks for confirming your VPN settings! And I just want to confirm that "protections are all off" means that specifically the setting "Turn on web protection" in the bottom-left of the desktop app in "Security score" is disabled, in addition to the VPN itself?

If so, as a test, could you try enabling a hotspot on your phone, connecting your computer to it, and seeing if there's any difference in behavior in both a Chromium and non-Chromium browser? I know you said you've tried on your phone's mobile data already, but I'm just trying to check some variables one at a time to see if anything lands 🙂

[tired ravine]

Yes they are all disabled, attached please find the settings.

And the results from using hotspot with my phone on both a Chromium and non-Chromium browser remain the same.

[restive trench]

Thank you for confirming! Do you have any other firewall or antivirus program(s), or custom DNS settings, active on the computer, or anything else like that that could be filtering traffic?