'Invalid request' error when attempting to sign in to WorldShare or Discovery
Symptom
- You are trying to sign into WorldShare, Discovery, or Tipasa and getting an error message reading: "Invalid request. We are unable to process your request. Please contact your library or OCLC support."
- The status code says '403' and the Reason says 'Forbidden.'
Applies to
- WorldShare Admin
- WorldShare Management Services (WMS)
- WorldCat Discovery
- Tipasa
Resolution
The issue you’re seeing is likely a result of corrupted browser data. Please try the following troubleshooting steps to resolve the error and restore your access to the sites:
- Clear your browser's cache and cookies for all time
- Open WorldShare/WorldCat Discovery in an incognito/private browser window
- Open WorldShare/WorldCat Discovery in a browser you don't typically use
- Open WorldShare/WorldCat Discovery using a clean link:
- WorldShare: https://[REGISTRY-ID].share.worldcat.org/wms
- WorldCat Discovery: https://[REGISTRY-ID].on.worldcat.org/discovery
If you are having problems using a bookmark, but are able to use a clean link like the above, you can manually create a bookmark with the clean URL to use in the future. In Chrome or Firefox, right-click your bookmarks bar and choose "Add page" or "Add bookmark," then enter your clean URL in the resulting dialog box. In Edge, you can do the same by typing edge://favorites/ into the address bar, clicking "Add favorite" on that page, then entering your clean URL in the dialog box. These steps should allow you to create a new bookmark for the clean URL without visiting the WorldShare/Discovery login page first, which can prevent this problem from recurrring.
If you don't know your library's registry ID, you can look it up on the WorldCat Registry website.
If you are library staff and these steps don't resolve the problem, contact OCLC Support. If you are a library patron, contact your library staff for assistance.
Additional information
Page ID
62755