Troubleshooting Ownself Gather

This page covers common issues encountered when using Ownself Gather, with sourced symptoms, causes, and resolution steps.

Email forwarding does not create new cases

What is the issue

Emails forwarded from your agency’s generic mailbox do not appear as new cases in Ownself Gather.

Potential underlying reasons

The email was redirected rather than forwarded. Ownself Gather does not support the email redirect rule. Only auto-forwarding rules create cases.
The auto-forwarding rule targets the wrong address. Each case type has a unique email address in the format correspondence+<app>+<id>@gather.gov.sg.
The case type does not have Email Correspondence enabled. The checkbox under the case type’s general details must be selected.
The case type is deactivated. Deactivated case types do not accept new cases from any source.

Steps on how to overcome the issue

Verify that your mail client rule uses forwarding, not redirecting. In Microsoft Outlook, refer to the rule configuration and confirm the action is “Forward” (not “Redirect”).
Confirm the destination address matches the case type’s unique email address shown in Settings > Case Types > Edit for the relevant case type.
Open Settings > Case Types > Edit and verify that the Email Correspondence checkbox is selected under “Automatically create new case upon receiving”.
Check that the case type’s Active toggle is set to On in the case types list.

How to check if issue is resolved

Send a test email to the case type’s unique email address. A new case should appear in the cases table within a few minutes, with the case source displayed as Email.

Contact and support path

If the issue persists, submit a support ticket at gather.gov.sg/support. Include the case type name, the email address you are forwarding to, and a sample of the forwarded email headers.

Recipient list is empty when replying to auto-forwarded emails

What is the issue

When selecting Reply or Reply All on the first email in a case created via auto-forwarding, the recipient list is blank.

The initial auto-forwarded email has the generic mailbox as the only detectable sender. Ownself Gather intentionally leaves the recipient list empty to prevent replies from reaching the generic mailbox — which would re-trigger the auto-forwarding rule and create a duplicate case.

Steps on how to overcome the issue

Open the email thread within the case.
Identify the original sender’s email address from the forwarded email content.
Manually copy and paste the correct recipient address into the To field before sending.

For all subsequent emails in the same case thread, Reply and Reply All pre-fill the recipient list normally.

How to check if issue is resolved

The reply is sent successfully to the intended recipient. Confirm by checking the Emails tab in the case for the outbound email entry.

Contact and support path

This is expected behaviour, not a defect. If you need further assistance, submit a support ticket at gather.gov.sg/support.

FormSG submissions do not create cases

What is the issue

Submissions from a linked FormSG form do not appear as new cases in Ownself Gather.

Potential underlying reasons

The FormSG webhook URL was not correctly pasted into the FormSG form settings. Each case type generates a unique webhook URL that must be copied into the form’s webhook configuration.
The FormSG form secret key entered in the case type configuration is incorrect or has been rotated.
The FormSG form uses multi-respondent mode (previously known as Multi-Respondent Forms). Direct webhook integration is only available for single-respondent forms. Multi-respondent forms require Plumber as an intermediary.
The case type is deactivated.

Steps on how to overcome the issue

In Ownself Gather, navigate to Settings > Case Types > Edit for the relevant case type. Copy the generated Webhook URL.
In FormSG, open your form’s settings and paste the webhook URL into the webhook configuration field.
Verify that the Form Secret Key in the case type matches the secret key in your FormSG form. If the key was rotated, update it in Ownself Gather.
Confirm that the form is a single-respondent form. For multi-respondent forms, set up the integration using Plumber.
Ensure the case type’s Active toggle is set to On.

How to check if issue is resolved

Submit a test response on the FormSG form. A new case should appear in the cases table with the case source displayed as FormSG.

Contact and support path

For FormSG-specific issues, refer to the FormSG user guide. For Ownself Gather webhook issues, submit a support ticket at gather.gov.sg/support with the form ID and case type name.

User cannot log in: “You are unauthenticated” error

What is the issue

When attempting to log in, the user sees the error message: “Error - You are unauthenticated. Please login or contact Support for help.”

Potential underlying reasons

Non-gov.sg users: The user has not signed up for an account. An account must be created and the email address verified before logging in.
All users: The user has not logged in for more than 90 days. Accounts become inactive after 90 days of inactivity.

Steps on how to overcome the issue

If the user has not signed up: Navigate to gather.gov.sg and select Sign up. Authenticate using Singpass and complete the registration.
If the account is inactive (gov.sg users): Reactivate the account at gather.gov.sg/support/reactivate-account.
If the account is inactive (non-gov.sg users): Submit a support ticket at gather.gov.sg/support to request reactivation.

How to check if issue is resolved

The user can log in successfully and see their My Apps page.

Contact and support path

If reactivation does not resolve the issue, submit a support ticket at gather.gov.sg/support with the user’s email address and login method used.

Case duration calculation appears incorrect

What is the issue

The case duration displayed does not match the expected elapsed time since case creation.

Potential underlying reasons

The case duration has been manually paused by a user or a workflow action. While paused, the counter does not increment.
The case type is configured to exclude weekends and public holidays from the duration calculation. The displayed duration reflects working days, not calendar days.
Ad-hoc exclusion days have been configured for the case type, further reducing the counted days.
The case duration was manually reset to zero by a user or workflow.

Steps on how to overcome the issue

Open the case and check whether the duration is in a Paused state. If paused, select Resume to restart the counter.
Navigate to Settings > Case Types > Edit for the relevant case type. Check the Case Duration Threshold section for excluded days configuration (weekends, public holidays, ad-hoc days).
Review the case’s Audit Log at the bottom of the case detail page. Look for duration-related actions (reset, pause, resume) to understand changes made.

Review your integration’s request frequency. Ensure it does not exceed 100 requests per 5-minute window per API key.
Implement request throttling or queuing in your integration to space out API calls.
If your use case requires a higher rate limit, submit a support ticket to request an increase.

How to check if issue is resolved

API requests return successful responses (HTTP 200) without 429 errors.

Contact and support path

To request a rate limit increase, submit a support ticket at gather.gov.sg/support with your app name, API key identifier, and the required request volume.

FAQs

Release notes