Mojito Version 1.1.6 is available - Mint authentication is fixed, but somewhat painful

Hi All,

I have fixed the Mint authentication problem in Mojito. See the previous post for more details on the issue.

You must now connect Mojito to an active Mint session, which means you must log in to Mint in a separate window first, then copy the HTTP headers from the Mint page over to Mojito. I know this is not convenient, but this is the only solution I have gotten to work. If you are like me, you are desperate to get your account data from Mint so you can manage your finances better; and this somewhat cumbersome work-around is certainly better than having to scrap Mojito altogether. The details for the new authentication process are described on the Mint Authentication Steps page.

To upgrade your copy of Mojito, follow the easy steps on the FAQ page.

Cheers,

-b3

The bad news ... and then some good news (sort of)

Hi Mojito Users,

I have been working on the login problem for over a week now. The issue is that Mint changed their login process and now requires a second verification step when you login from a different computer or a new location. The verification is usually a code sent via email.

Other software programmers on the internet have figured out the underlying network requests that Mint requires. However, these individuals are running a script directly from their computers to download their accounts, etc., and Mint can't tell the difference between the script and a normal web browser running on their computer. Mojito is different. Mojito runs within Google Sheets directly from Google's servers, not from your home computer.

And that's the problem. No matter how I modify and tweak Mojito to send the new login requests to Mint, it always fails. Mint sees the network requests coming from Google's servers and rejects them. Logging into Mint directly from Mojito is simply no longer possible.

Having been a heavy Mojito user myself for over two years, I was desperate to find some way to get Mojito working again. I finally found one ... but it's not pretty. Some of you may decide that is just too "technical" and choose to stop using Mojito. I sincerely apologize if that is the case.

The work-around requires a few steps, which I will post once I have finished updating Mojito (hopefully in the next few days!). The gist is that you will have to log in to the Mint website directly, copy the Mint HTTP headers from Chrome's developer tools window, and paste the headers into Mojito (via a new Mint Authentication window). Like I said, it's not pretty ... but it works. The one nice thing about this change is that Mojito will not require re-authentication as long as you keep the Mint website active.

Stay tuned. I will post more detailed steps for the login work-around once Mojito is ready.

Thanks,
-b3

Recent Mint change has broken Mojito

Hi All,

It appears that Mint.com has made a change today (26-May-2016) that is causing Mojito to fail with the following error:

Unable to determine if Mint is ready. Error: <error><code>1</code><description>Session has expired.</description><name></name><type></type></error>

The cause of the problem is unknown at this point. Unfortunately, I am in the middle of a multi-week vacation, so my ability to debug and fix it is severely hampered. I'll see what I can do, but I can't make an promises as to when the issue will be fixed.

In the meantime, please use Mint.com directly. Sorry for the inconvenience.

-b3

Oops! Mojito 1.1.5.1 is Broken

Hi Mojito Users,

I was doing some maintenance to Mojito to address a change Google will be making to their "Apps Script" for Google Sheets. In the process of testing my changes, I accidentally deleted the version of MojitoLib (a code library) that Mojito 1.1.5.1 is using. It was as easy as clicking the mouse twice instead of once ... and it was gone, with no way to get it back (!!). Ugh ... thanks Google.

To remedy this mistake, I have released a new version of MojitoLib. However, you will either need to download a new copy of Mojito, or you can upgrade your copy of Mojito to version 1.1.5.2 (assuming you are using Mojito 1.1.5.1, which is the current version as of this writing).

To upgrade your copy of Mojito, follow the easy steps on the FAQ page.

I apologize for this accident and hope the inconvenience is minimal.

-b3

Mint login problem - Fixed

Several users have reported a Mint sync and login problem from Mojito. The initial login succeeds, but after a few seconds the login window appears again, repeating over and over.

I have been able to reproduce the problem but have not identified the root cause yet. I will continue to investigate as time allows (given the holidays and all).

Thanks,
-b3

Update (2014-12-21):

I have found the problem and am fixing it. Give me a day or so to update the Download page with the new version.

Unfortunately, the fix requires a small change in the login code, which I have always kept in the script attached to the spreadsheet (so you can see exactly what the code does); but each time I need to fix an issue in the login code, you (the users) are forced to download a new copy of Mojito. I think I'm going to finally move that code into the separate script library (MojitoLib)...

Update (2014-12-23):

I've posted release 1.1.5 with the Mint login fix. Thanks for your patience. The fix requires you to download a new copy of Mojito. Sorry about that ...

-b3

Mint taking a LONG time to retrieve data from financial institutions causing Mojito to time out

Hi All,

Starting a few days ago (around December 14, 2014), you may have noticed Mojito failing to sync data from Mint with this message: "Mint is taking too long to refresh your account data. Try again in a few minutes."

Here is what's happening. When you log in to your Mint account (either through their website or through Mojito), Mint goes and retrieves your latest transactions / data from your financial institutions (banks, lenders, investment companies, etc.). Mojito waits up to 60 seconds for Mint to complete this process before syncing your data (so it doesn't just fetch stale data that you probably already have). For me, Mint used to take between 30 to 50 seconds to refresh its data from financial institutions; but now it is taking almost 4 minutes. It seems that Mint's back end syncing process has become much slower for some reason. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do to speed up Mint.

If you haven't figured it out already, the workaround is this:

In Mojito, start syncing your data. Go do something for a few minutes so Mint can finish its back end data refresh process. Then, come back to Mojito and start the sync again. The second time it should succeed.

In the meantime, I'll work on increasing the Mojito time out.

Update (2014-12-18):

I think this may have been a problem with my own accounts. I had a couple that needed "fixing" which was causing Mint to take a long time to refresh my financial data. However, let me know if you are regularly seeing the Mojito sync abort due to the 60 time out.

Mojito 1.1.4.1 is available -- Fix for bug in Reconcile Account feature

The bug mentioned in my previous blog post has now been fixed. If you are using Mojito 1.1.4, please upgrade your copy to version 1.1.4.1 now.

Do NOT use the Reconcile Account feature in version 1.1.4.

Thanks,
-b3