Bookstack Connector Documents Not Showing Up Immediately? Here's The Fix!

Hey everyone! 👋 If you're using the Bookstack connector with Onyx and scratching your head because your newly created documents aren't showing up right away, you're in the right place. I ran into this myself, and after a little digging, I figured out what's going on and how to fix it. Let's dive in and get those documents indexed ASAP!

The Bookstack Connector Delay: What's the Deal?

So, what's the issue? It turns out that when the Bookstack connector grabs updated documents, it uses a date range to filter the results. The problem lies in how Bookstack interprets the end parameter, which specifies the upper limit of the date range. It seems that Bookstack, when given a date without a specific time, treats it as the very beginning of that day. This means any documents updated during that day might not be included in the initial index. 😬

Imagine this: you create a document in Bookstack at 2 PM today. The connector runs its indexing job, using today's date as the end parameter. Because Bookstack sees today's date as the start of the day (midnight), your 2 PM document gets left out. Bummer, right? This is why your documents only show up in the Onyx index the next day. The connector is essentially querying for documents updated before the start of today, missing everything you've created today.

This delay can be a real pain, especially if you need to access those documents immediately. You might think your content isn't being indexed properly, or that something's broken. But don't worry, it's just a small timing issue that's easily fixed. We'll get into the solution shortly, but first let's talk about why this happens and what's going on behind the scenes with the Bookstack connector and Onyx.

Understanding the Connector's Inner Workings

To really understand the issue, it helps to peek under the hood of the Bookstack connector. The connector communicates with your Bookstack instance via its API. When it's time to index or update documents, the connector sends requests to Bookstack, asking for content that meets certain criteria. This is usually filtered by the date the content was updated. The end parameter is a crucial piece of this puzzle because it sets the upper limit for the updated date. In the current implementation (at least when this issue popped up), the connector passes the end date. The problem, as we've already discussed, is how Bookstack interprets the end date.

Bookstack expects a date format that the connector sends, but the time isn't always accounted for. Let's say the connector sends the date '2024-03-08' to Bookstack. Bookstack, by default, assumes this is midnight on March 8th. Any documents created after midnight on March 8th won't be returned by this query. Hence, the delay.

This is a subtle but significant detail that explains the delay you might be experiencing. It's a matter of how the dates are interpreted and passed between the connector and Bookstack. Now that you know the problem, let's explore how we can resolve it and get those documents indexed right away!

Fixing the Bookstack Connector Delay: A Quick Hack

Alright, let's get down to the nitty-gritty and fix this issue. I've got a simple, yet effective, solution. It involves modifying the connector.py file within the Bookstack connector. This will ensure that the connector correctly fetches the documents updated today.

Disclaimer: Modifying the connector directly in your environment is a temporary fix. For a more permanent solution, you should ideally submit a pull request or discuss the issue with the connector's maintainers.

Here's the code that can be used to make the necessary changes. The code is written in Python, because the Bookstack connector is built on it.

from datetime import datetime, timedelta

...

    if end:
        tomorrow = datetime.utcfromtimestamp(end) + timedelta(days=1)
        formatted_tomorrow = tomorrow.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")
        params["filter[updated_at:lte]"] = formatted_tomorrow

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Locate the connector.py file: Find the connector.py file within the background container. This might vary depending on how you've set up Onyx and the Bookstack connector. You might have to ssh into the container or use a container management tool.
2. Edit the file: Open the connector.py file in a text editor. Add the code mentioned above.
3. Implement the core logic: The fix involves calculating the date for tomorrow. This ensures that the upper limit of the date range includes all the documents created today. This is accomplished by adding one day to the timestamp provided in the end parameter, and formatting the results to match the format of what Bookstack expects.
4. Save the changes: Save the changes to the connector.py file.
5. Restart the connector (if needed): In many setups, the connector will automatically pick up the changes. However, you might need to restart the container or the connector service to ensure the changes take effect.

How the Fix Works

This fix is pretty straightforward. By adding a day to the end date, the connector now queries Bookstack for documents updated up to and including the end of the current day. This means that documents created today will be included in the indexing process. The connector effectively