YASB Weather Widget: A Debugging Saga of Epic Proportions (and the Case of the Missing Log File\!)

[MichelBytes]

Hey YASB Wizards and Fellow Bar-Barians,

I'm hitting a rather perplexing wall with my weather widget, and after a valiant debugging effort with a very patient AI (who, I swear, is now questioning its career choices), I'm reaching out to the collective wisdom of the forum!

The Quest Objective: To display glorious weather data on my YASB bar.

The Current Reality: The widget stubbornly shows "N/A N/A". It's like a stoic, weather-agnostic sentinel, refusing to divulge even a single degree. "Weather update..." flashes briefly, then BAM, "N/A N/A".

Our Journey Through the Digital Wilderness (The Technical Bits & The Fun Bits):

1. Phase 1: The config.yaml Indentation Inquisition.

   • My first thought, naturally, was that my config.yaml was a YAML abomination. We went through line-by-line, checked every single space, tab, and colon. It was a true deep dive into the very soul of YAML syntax.
   • Result: The config.yaml appears structurally pristine. My location and api_key variables are correctly defined and formatted. Phew, one less existential crisis.

2. Phase 2: The API Key Identity Crisis.

   • Initially, I (and my AI companion) assumed the widget was querying OpenWeatherMap. However, after providing the full weather.py source code, a bombshell dropped: the WeatherDataFetcher class, bless its heart, explicitly crafts its api_url for WeatherAPI.com!
   • Implication: My API key must be from WeatherAPI.com. I've double-checked that my key is indeed active and from the correct provider.
   • Code Reference: The api_url is built as http://api.weatherapi.com/v1/forecast.json?key={self._api_key}&q={urllib.parse.quote(self._location)}&days=3&aqi=no&alerts=yes.

3. Phase 3: The "N/A N/A" Enigma, Decoded (Partially).

   • The weather.py code reveals that N/A N/A isn't a random act of defiance. It's the widget's graceful way of saying, "I tried, but something went wrong processing the data." Specifically, the process_weather_data function populates everything with "N/A" if it hits an exception during parsing the API response. This tells us the widget is trying to run and likely making a network call.

4. Phase 4: The Legend of the Missing yasb.log File.

   • This is where things got really interesting. My AI assistant insisted, quite rightly, that any errors should be logged by the logging module in weather.py.
   • Initial Search: I scoured my Downloads folder (where I extracted yasb-1.7.6.zip source code). No yasb.log.
   • The cx_Freeze Plot Twist: I stumbled upon a LICENSE file stating YASB was "frozen with cx_Freeze," which implies I'm running a compiled .exe version.
   • The "Aha!" Moment (and subsequent "D'oh!"): I then realized I was running yasb.exe from C:\Program Files\YASB. Logic dictated the log file must be there.
   • The Reality Check: Still no yasb.log in C:\Program Files\YASB. My File Explorer confirmed it, repeatedly.
   • The AppData Adventure: Next stop, %LOCALAPPDATA%\YASB! Lo and behold, a file! But not yasb.log. Instead, yasb_traffic_system_auto, containing JSON for network stats. So, YASB can write to AppData, but my elusive log file remains in the shadows.

Unanswered Questions & Remaining Suspects:

• Network Blockade? I've yet to explicitly test with my antivirus/firewall temporarily disabled (it was difficult to justify the risk given the prior attempts). Is it possible some security software is silently blocking the QNetworkAccessManager in WeatherDataFetcher from reaching WeatherAPI.com?
• The Ghost of Logging Past: Why is yasb.log simply not being created, even with the "N/A N/A" indicating errors should be occurring and logged? Is there a debug flag I'm missing, or perhaps a different default log location for frozen builds that isn't common?

My Setup:

• YASB Version: 1.7.6
• Operating System: Windows 11 (23H2)
• Installation Path: C:\Program Files\YASB
• config.yaml snippet (weather widget only):

  weather:
      type: weather
      label: "{temp} {conditions}"
      label_alt: "{location} {feelslike}"
      update_interval: 1800 # 30 minutes
      hide_decimal: true
      location: "Bennington, Vermont, United States" # Example, using my actual city/state/country
      api_key: "YOUR_WEATHERAPI_COM_KEY_HERE" # (I have my actual key in my config)
      units: "imperial"
      show_alerts: true
      weather_card:
          enabled: true
          alignment: "center"
          direction: "bottom"
          offset_left: 0
          offset_top: 0
          round_corners: true
          round_corners_type: "both"
          border_color: "#b9b9b9"
          blur: true
          icon_size: 48
      callbacks:
          on_left: "toggle_card"
          on_middle: "toggle_label"
          on_right: "update_label"

Any insights, tips on forcing log creation, or "aha!" moments from experienced users or the developer would be massively appreciated! My bar is currently experiencing a severe weather information deficit.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Video-Nomad]

Log file is right next to the config.yaml and styles.css file:
C:\Users\%USERNAME%\.config\yasb\

[Slim08]

Even if the log file wouldn't be in such an obvious place, a system-wide file search would have given you the location in, like, a couple of seconds, no? A debug flag can be set in your config.yaml file. Additionally, the terminal command yasbc log will give you a live log output. The Weather Widget showing N/A is most of the time caused by some problem with the API key. Getting a new one resolves the issue more often than not.

[MichelBytes]

Thank you but I did do a search and nothing came up and so I went to the spot you said the log is in and it's not there either. I just looked.

…

On Sat, Jun 28, 2025, 5:01 PM Slim08 ***@***.***> wrote: Even if the log file wouldn't be in such an obvious place, a system-wide file search would have given you the location in, like, a couple of seconds, no? A debug flag <https://github.com/amnweb/yasb/wiki/Configuration#status-bar-root-configuration> can be set in your config.yaml file. Additionally, the terminal command yasbc log will give you a live log output. The Weather Widget showing N/A is most of the time caused by some problem with the API key. Getting a new one resolves the issue more often than not. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#362 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AYOQQ4ZPV3U2I6YJNWH7GGL3F37CLAVCNFSM6AAAAACALHVIFOVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTGNRQGY3TEMA> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[amnweb]

Install YASB, open the terminal and run yasbc log, start YASB, and post the output here

[Maybey3]

I have same problem YASB weather One week ago shows to data But now shows N/A

[amnweb]

Because shared keys which you can find in the themes are blocked, get your own https://www.weatherapi.com/

[MichelBytes]

I have my own key, and nothing comes up in the terminal when I search for the elusive yasbc log. See why I'm here.

…

On Sat, Jun 28, 2025, 7:45 PM AmN ***@***.***> wrote: Because shared keys which you can find in the themes are blocked, get your own https://www.weatherapi.com/ — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#362 (reply in thread)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AYOQQ42CMCTRVWFOBZD2JA33F4SJ3AVCNFSM6AAAAACALHVIFOVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTGNRQG4YTMMQ> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[amnweb]

Can you enable debug mode in the config and share the log output here?

[Sojix773]

I'm having a similar problem with my weather displaying N/A i have generated a new key and that didn't fix the issue, my log output looks like this:
'2025-07-31 00:29:16,407 [WARNING] [MainThread] [root/weather.py:512]: Error processing weather data: list index out of range. Retrying fetch in 10 seconds.'

[Forest-Terminal]

Try backing up your config and using a pre-made theme from the theme selector with a weather widget. Just replace the api key with your own.

I just think it could be a near impossible to spot config syntax problem

[Sojix773]

@Video-Nomad @Forest-Terminal i was using a premade theme, and i had tried that before, but i did it again and now it works with the api key that was in it, but when i put my api key it won't work. when i used that link that @Video-Nomad sent i got the correct data back. I guess if it's not broke don't fix it, but like i don't know why it is working with the preinstalled key, and why it won't work with my key.

[Forest-Terminal]

That's weird but at least it works

[Video-Nomad]

@Sojix773 did you change something in the weather API Response Fields? They all should be checked. If you unchecked some of them it might change the response structure and you will get "list index out of range" or other problems because YASB can't find the data it needs.

[Sojix773]

@Forest-Terminal @Video-Nomad i think it might be an issue with the specific theme i installed because i installed a different theme and my api worked just fine so i suppose beware of the pillbox theme