NNS Canister error when asking for details

I am getting this message when trying to access a canisters details, created on the NNS.

“Sorry, there was an error loading the details of the canister. Please try again later.”

So I am coming back days later and still gives me the same error.

Thanks for any help.

With “created on the NNS” do you mean created in NNS-dapp or something else?

Can you share a bit more details of the steps you performed to create the canister, assuming you created a canister right?

On mainnet correct?

Yes I created the canister on the nns-dapp. I then used my principal id to gain control locally with dfx. I then think I deleted what I had deployed initially. After this I have had the error.

Thanks for the feedback. Is your NNS-dapp principal still a controller of your canister?

Sorry I should say that I changed the canister principal to my local principal.

So if I understand correctly, your principal in NNS-dapp is not a controller of your canister anymore.
If yes, that’s the reason why the dapp cannot fetch the details of the canister, only controllers can get get the details of a canister and that’s why you get the error message.

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You are not limited to having only one controller. If you add your NNS principal to it (instead of replacing it) you can see its details in the NNS dapp again.

To add a controller via dfx, use this command: dfx canister update-settings --add-controller <principal> <canister>

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Do I have to use --network=ic with that?

Worth to note, it’s max 10 controllers

Thanks for the explanation and the advice about multiple controllers. I will give it a go.

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Yes, you need to use --network ic (with or without a = in between. It works either way)

I get this error:

Error: Failed to get canister status of qrjtn-liaaa-aaaap-qa4pq-cai.
Caused by: Failed to get canister status of qrjtn-liaaa-aaaap-qa4pq-cai.
Failed to call update function ‘canister_status’ regarding canister ‘qrjtn-liaaa-aaaap-qa4pq-cai’.
Update call (without wallet) failed.
The replica returned an HTTP Error: Http Error: status 404 Not Found, content type “application/cbor”, content: Canister qrjtn-liaaa-aaaap-qa4pq-cai not found

This means either a) the canister is deleted or b) you’re on the wrong network (e.g. you forgot --network ic)

If the canister is deleted is there a way to get it back or it’s gone for good?

If it’s gone it’s gone. No way to bring it back, and also no way to get that canister ID ever again so nobody can impersonate that canister at a later point in time

Slightly disconcerting as I don’t know exactly what I did to delete it.
Anyway thanks for your help. I will need to be more careful in future.

I don’t know about the NNS dapp, but via dfx the only way to delete a canister is with the dfx canister delete command, so I’m really not sure what could have happened if you didn’t do it on purpose…

I don’t have a strong handle on what I am doing yet. I wanted to over-write the project I had on the canister and may have unwittingly deleted the canister instead.

User cannot delete canister in NNS-dapp.

Unlink is possible and deleting/removing controllers but, not deleting canisters.

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Yes it’s odd to me because the canister id is still active and linked in the nns-dapp but I can’t get any details to change controllers etc.