Panic when github doesn't load?

Author: selfhoster1312Created Aug 31, 2026Updated Aug 31, 2026

I've noticed ladder crashes regularly (not too often but at least a few times every month) and i have to restart it manually.

In systemctl status:

× ladder.service - Ladder: Paywall Remover
     Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/ladder.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Thu 2026-08-27 19:02:46 CEST; 4 days ago
   Duration: 540ms
    Process: 950 ExecStart=/var/www/ladder/ladder -r https://raw.githubusercontent.com/everywall/ladder-rules/main/ruleset.yaml -p 56822 (code=exited, status=2)
   Main PID: 950 (code=exited, status=2)
        CPU: 31ms

août 27 19:02:45 srv systemd[1]: Started ladder.service - Ladder: Paywall Remover.
août 27 19:02:46 srv systemd[1]: ladder.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=2/INVALIDARGUMENT
août 27 19:02:46 srv systemd[1]: ladder.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.

In my ladder logs:

panic: WARN: failed to load ruleset from 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/everywall/ladder-rules/main/ruleset.yaml'
    failed to load rules from remote url 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/everywall/ladder-rules/main/ruleset.yaml'
    Get "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/everywall/ladder-rules/main/ruleset.yaml": dial tcp: lookup raw.githubusercontent.com on [::1]:53: server misbehaving
    WARN: failed to load 1 rulesets

goroutine 1 [running]:
ladder/handlers.ProxySite({0x7fff7f4c5eb8?, 0x89efaa?})
    /home/runner/work/ladder/ladder/handlers/proxy.go:181 +0x6f
main.main()
    /home/runner/work/ladder/ladder/cmd/main.go:161 +0xa4d
2026/08/27 09:34:34 WARN: No ruleset specified. Set the `RULESET` environment variable to load one for a better success rate.
panic: WARN: failed to load ruleset from 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/everywall/ladder-rules/main/ruleset.yaml'
    failed to load rules from remote url 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/everywall/ladder-rules/main/ruleset.yaml'
    Get "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/everywall/ladder-rules/main/ruleset.yaml": dial tcp: lookup raw.githubusercontent.com on [::1]:53: server misbehaving
    WARN: failed to load 1 rulesets

goroutine 1 [running]:
ladder/handlers.ProxySite({0x7ffcd814ceb8?, 0x89efaa?})
    /home/runner/work/ladder/ladder/handlers/proxy.go:181 +0x6f
main.main()
    /home/runner/work/ladder/ladder/cmd/main.go:161 +0xa4d
2026/08/27 19:02:46 WARN: No ruleset specified. Set the `RULESET` environment variable to load one for a better success rate.
panic: WARN: failed to load ruleset from 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/everywall/ladder-rules/main/ruleset.yaml'
    failed to load rules from remote url 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/everywall/ladder-rules/main/ruleset.yaml'
    Get "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/everywall/ladder-rules/main/ruleset.yaml": dial tcp: lookup raw.githubusercontent.com on 127.0.0.1:53: server misbehaving
    WARN: failed to load 1 rulesets

goroutine 1 [running]:
ladder/handlers.ProxySite({0x7ffd6fadfeb8?, 0x89efaa?})
    /home/runner/work/ladder/ladder/handlers/proxy.go:181 +0x6f
main.main()
    /home/runner/work/ladder/ladder/cmd/main.go:161 +0xa4d

I think there's different problems involved:

Yunohost ladder package does not automatically restart ladder (downstream problem)
ladder probably should not crash when some network is unreachable (i think it crashes trying to refresh the ruleset, in which case it could use the older version?)
ladder could embed a default ruleset in the binary and rely on the network only for updates (maybe that's already the case but i didn't get it from the README)

Source: everywall/ladder

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