Understanding max challenge attempts exceeded error
What you might see
When visiting a Figshare repository page, you may see this message:
Max challenge attempts exceeded. Please refresh the page to try again!
How to fix it
- In a new tab in the same browser window, go to https://figshare.com. (you can leave this open or close it)
- Then go back to your original tab and refresh. Or navigate again to the specific repository site or content you were trying to access.
Why this happens
Like many repository platforms, Figshare has seen persistent, high-volume automated traffic (bot activity) over the past year. It’s hard to tell legitimate users apart from bots that don’t identify themselves or follow rate-limiting and scraping guidelines. To keep the site stable, we’ve put protective measures in place, and occasionally these catch real users too.
Thank you for your patience!
Figshare aims to make content as discoverable and accessible as possible. We know access errors are frustrating, and we appreciate your patience as we adapt to changing platform usage driven by AI technologies.
