'403 Forbidden' error with Google sign-in and Google app password

[sachaweb]

Hello DavX5 community,

I'm experiencing persistent issues syncing my Google Calendar with DavX5 on my LineageOS Android phone, and I'm hoping someone can provide some guidance. I've been struggling with this for a few weeks now.

Problem Description:

I'm getting a '403 Forbidden' error when DavX5 tries to sync with my Google Calendar. Initially, removing and re-adding my Google account in DavX5 would provide a temporary fix, but the problem returns after a few days/weeks.

I've tried the following troubleshooting steps without success:

• Re-adding the account: Provides only a temporary fix.
• Checking Google account permissions: I've ensured DavX5 has the necessary permissions.
• Generating and using App Passwords: I've created multiple new App Passwords in my Google account and used them in DavX5, but this also results in errors.
• Checking DavX5 version: I'm using version 4.4.8-ose.

Logs:

I've attached the following logs, which might be helpful for diagnosis:

• davx5verbose.txt
• davx-googleapppw.txt (This log shows the error when using an App Password)
  davx5verbose.txt
  davx-googleapppw.txt

Specific Observations from the Logs:

• The logs indicate a '403 Forbidden' error, suggesting an authorization issue.
• When using App Passwords, the logs show DavX5 attempting Basic Authentication.
• The logs also show DavX5 having trouble with CardDAV service discovery.

Questions:

• Has anyone else encountered similar persistent sync issues with Google Calendar and DavX5, especially with recurring 403 Forbidden errors?
• Could the CardDAV service discovery issues be related to the problem, even if I'm primarily trying to sync my calendar?
• Are there any specific DavX5 settings or configurations that might be causing this?
• Any suggestions for further troubleshooting or workarounds would be greatly appreciated.

[sunkup]

• Could the CardDAV service discovery issues be related to the problem, even if I'm primarily trying to sync my calendar?

No, it should not pose a problem for calendar synchronization.

• Are there any specific DavX5 settings or configurations that might be causing this?
• Any suggestions for further troubleshooting or workarounds would be greatly appreciated.

Have you seen https://www.davx5.com/tested-with/google ?

You might want to try creating your own client ID and use it at the login screen.

[sachaweb]

Thanks for that, I will set that up. There's quite a number of steps involved in creating the Google client ID. I'm sure it's worth it but will that avoid the disruption of the sync that happened periodically so far? Cheers, Sacha Op wo 26 mrt 2025 om 09:04 schreef Sunik Kupfer ***@***.***>:

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- Could the CardDAV service discovery issues be related to the problem, even if I'm primarily trying to sync my calendar? No, it should not pose a problem for calendar synchronization. - Are there any specific DavX5 settings or configurations that might be causing this? - Any suggestions for further troubleshooting or workarounds would be greatly appreciated. Have you seen https://www.davx5.com/tested-with/google ? You might want to try creating your own client ID and use it at the login screen. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1356 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AK5ZBRV4CIC66XDEEAR72FT2WJGQBAVCNFSM6AAAAABZTBCD4WVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTENRSGQ4DKMQ> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[sunkup]

will that avoid the disruption of the sync that happened periodically so far?

Maybe. I can't say for sure, but we and other users had similar issues with google in the past. See #337

Since other users have not reported this problem yet I don't think it's a problem on the DAVx5 side. And since you say that you have tried authenticating both with and without app-specific password, I don't know what else you could try.

Let us know if it works!

[hoshsadiq]

Hi! I've got the same issue. Happy to try and get relevant logs out but not sure what steps to follow.

[hoshsadiq]

Never mind, in my case it was pebkac.

[lrq3000]

I have the same issue and I tried to follow the steps in https://www.davx5.com/tested-with/google but the screens changed so much that I could not find where to complete the scopes change and the testing to production. The tutorial needs to be updated.

[lrq3000]

I could find how to do all the steps with the new interface. At first it worked but I lost all my local calendar events and got the cloud calendar downloaded and overwriting my local calendar.

But now I updated my local calendar and when I try to sync I get both 400 and 403 http errors (i got both errors too before, it seems nothing changed).

So don't bother losing hours like me trying to setup a custom app id, that's not the culprit. I don't know what google is doing but it is breaking davx5.

[lrq3000]

It would be nice if davx5 had an option to export the local version of the calendars, for cases like this where syncing fails, to make a backup to avoid losing everything.

[rfc2822]

You can also use you calendar app to export the calendars, at least if the calendar app supports it. For instance aCalendar+ can do so.

It would be nice if davx5 had an option to export the local version of the calendars, for cases like this where syncing fails, to make a backup to avoid losing everything.

Tracked in #2108

[lrq3000]

@rfc2822 Strangely, Etar, the opensource calendar app I am using, appears to have no export function. Thank you for the tip, I will have a look at aCalendar+. For the moment, I ended up using Calendar Import/Export.