You cannot start the meeting because it is hosted by another user zoom

API and Webhooks
1

Description
I’ve a Basic zoom account and using this I’m creating a new meeting using the API. I’ve created 10-15 meetings from the API and received meeting ID, starturl and joinurl.
However I can’t see those created meetings into my zoom account.

Also, whenever I try to open a Start URL then it gives me below error.

Error
You cannot start the meeting because it is hosted by another user zoom

Which App Type (OAuth / Chatbot / JWT / Webhook)?
OAuth

Which Endpoint/s?
https://zoom.us/oauth/

How To Reproduce (If applicable)
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

  1. Request URL / Headers (without credentials) / Body
  2. See error

Screenshots (If applicable)
If applicable, add screenshots to help explain your problem.

Additional context
Add any other context about the problem here.

2

Hi @rank_hitesh,

Can you please provide me with the complete request that you are sending? Also are you using your PMI for the meetings?

3

Hi- I’m having the identical error. (Please note that this post contains real user information and the links have been modified because “new users can only have two links”)

When I click on the start_url, I get an error that I can’t start the meeting because it is hosted by another person. When I click on the join_url, the response is that the ID is invalid

  1. I create a meeting using the api with https://api.zoom.us/v2/users/z-sigrid.hahn@stationmd.com/meetings
  2. The responsei I get looks like this:
    [uuid] => J2S8ac0ZT+q9AsLNcECJ+A==
    [id] => 581262404
    [host_id] => RkBuwoSnToGAiWSutAstEQ
    [topic] => Telemedicine Visit
    [type] => 1
    [status] => waiting
    [timezone] => America/Los_Angeles
    [created_at] => 2020-04-05T14:27:53Z
    [start_url] => https:zoom.us/s/581262404?zak=eyJ6bV9za20iOiJ6bV9vMm0iLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.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.EAb11K4XHEB_sKtDFWtVW7vpvUplDp9t8B2fSi9tZrA
    [join_url] => https:zoom.us/j/581262404?pwd=OTg3aFJ3U21SakZtWmdqM29JMERxUT09
    [password] => 331558
    [h323_password] => 331558
    [pstn_password] => 331558
    [encrypted_password] => OTg3aFJ3U21SakZtWmdqM29JMERxUT09
4

Hi @scott,

The meetings that you create are for users within your account? Also, has anyone else clicked on the start_url or joined the meeting as a host?

Thanks

5

This meeting was created for z-sigrid-hahn@stationmd.com who is a user within this account. Nobody should have clicked on the link other than that user.

Is there a way to review the activity from the zoom side with respect to that meeting? Specifically, when was the meeting created? When was the start url generated? When was that url used and by whom? Did anyone else try to connect to that meeting?

6

Hey @scott,

Can you send us that meeting ID and the timeframe?

Thanks,
Tommy

7

Do you need more than what is written above? Meeting ID is 581262404; it was created at 2020-04-05T14:27:53Z

8

Hey @scott,

We see on our end that the meeting was successfully created on 2020-04-05 14:27:53(GMT) and ran for 8 minutes?

Thanks,
Tommy

9

So, the problem is that the meeting did not run successfully at all. The host clicked on the start_url and got the error message above. When the user clicked on the join_url, he got the message that the meeting ID was invalid.

Another example from yesterday. Exactly the same problem.

[2020-04-07 14:32:56] production.INFO: Zoom Request. path=https://api.zoom.us/v2/users/z-matthew.kaufman@stationmd.com/meetings: Array
(
[uuid] => XR1Ua+GRQi6wa/EoIa71oQ==
[id] => 984923892
[host_id] => LjFiuxl1QAeH8WEZBO4kyA
[topic] => Telemedicine Visit
[type] => 1
[status] => waiting
[timezone] => America/Los_Angeles
[created_at] => 2020-04-07T18:32:56Z
[start_url] => https://zoom.us/s/984923892?zak=eyJ6bV9za20iOiJ6bV9vMm0iLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.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.FMUq94JVL40ywuMg-_cOf2jl-KWfp4Fi8PtRg5yuyHE
[join_url] => https://zoom.us/j/984923892?pwd=ZzdlS29KdkJuZGd0ZkNNMDgwTDZRQT09
[password] => 126521
[h323_password] => 126521
[pstn_password] => 126521
[encrypted_password] => ZzdlS29KdkJuZGd0ZkNNMDgwTDZRQT09
[settings] => Array
(
[host_video] =>
[participant_video] => 1
[cn_meeting] =>
[in_meeting] =>
[join_before_host] =>
[mute_upon_entry] =>
[watermark] =>
[use_pmi] =>
[approval_type] => 2
[audio] => both
[auto_recording] => none
[enforce_login] =>
[enforce_login_domains] =>
[alternative_hosts] =>
[close_registration] =>
[registrants_confirmation_email] => 1
[waiting_room] => 1
[global_dial_in_countries] => Array
(
[0] => US
)

10

Actually, can you tell me which user started the meeting? Can any user, even when not logged in, use the start_url to start the meeting? Can it be any user belonging to the account that created the meeting?

11

Hey @scott,

I can only see the host of the meeting.

Yes, if the start_url has not been expired and has the zak token already attached then the meeting can be started without authentication. You should treat the start_url like a password, not to be shared except with the meeting host.

Not unless they have the start_url

Thanks,
Tommy

12

OK, so then I don’t really understand how I could get this error. If the user clicks on the start_url which contains the zak, there should be no problems with authentication. How do I get the error about the host being another person?

13

Hey @scott,

Could have been an edge case on our end. Are you able to reproduce this error, or did it only happen once?

Thanks,
Tommy

14

This is not an edge case. I sent two examples and could send more if those are not enough to research.

15

Hey @scott,

We have since increased the meeting numbers to 11 digits which should fix this issue.

Thanks,
Tommy

16

Really? Are you suggesting that the problem was collision with another user randomly clicking on the same meeting_id and also happened to have the zak? Seems unlikely. Are you able to check to see if there were any accesses on that meeting_id to support that theory?

17

Hey @scott,

No, the issue was not that they had your zak token or clicked on the same meeting_id. It was we ran out of meeting numbers so the meeting actually failed to create on your end, because that meeting number already existed for another user at that point in time.

Since someone happened to have created that meeting before you with that random ID, they were the host, and not you. We are having 200M+ meeting participants a day, and if you do the math, 9^9 in a 2 day period there could be collision. That is why we upped it to 11 digits, you should not see this issue again, but if you do, please let us know.

Thanks,
Tommy

18

Ohhh… I see. So it somehow issued the same meeting ID to two different users. I often wondered how you avoided collisions like that. It seems nearly impossible with 10-digit meetings and all US phone numbers already accounted for and millions of meetings scheduled per day. Good to know.

1 Like
19

Haha I’ve wondered the same. With 11 digits it seems this collsiions will never happen again. :slight_smile:

Thanks,
Tommy

20

Hi @tommy I have similar case with this issue. does it mean that the start url of the webinar I created before will update the start_url with a new link? because before I don’t have any problem on this until this issue appear yesterday.

and the workaround I did is to get the webinar from api and I observed that the start_url generated before is different now.

Thank you.