aws / aws/aws-durable-execution-sdk-java
[Bug]: waitForCondition exhaustion can produce FAILED invocation without ErrorObject
- Dominant language
- Java
- Stars
- 28
- Forks
- 11
- Avg merge
- 1d 8h
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 47
Description
### Expected Behavior
When `waitForCondition` exhausts its configured attempts, the SDK should:
1. Checkpoint the `WaitForCondition` step as `FAILED` with a non-null `ErrorObject`.
2. Checkpoint an enclosing synchronous child context as `FAILED` with a non-null `ErrorObject`.
3. Return a root `DurableExecutionInvocationOutput` with `Status=FAILED` and a non-null `ErrorObject`.
This ensures replay preserves useful diagnostics and any service/emulator consuming the invocation result can reliably record the execution as failed.
### Actual Behavior
The built-in wait strategies throw `WaitForConditionFailedException(String)`, whose `DurableOperationException` state has a null `ErrorObject`.
That null propagates through the failure path:
- `WaitForConditionOperation.handleCheckFailure()` reuses `DurableOperationException.getErrorObject()` without a null fallback.
- `ChildContextOperation.handleChildContextFailure()` does the same.
- `DurableExecutor.buildErrorObject()` returns `DurableOperationException.getErrorObject()` directly, even when it is null.
The final invocation output can therefore be equivalent to:
```json
{
"Status": "FAILED"
}
```
The Java `LocalDurableTestRunner` preserves the `FAILED` status, but the error is absent. When used through SAM Local, this combines with an emulator bug that currently converts `FAILED` with no error into `ExecutionSucceeded`.
### Steps to Reproduce
Use a synchronous child context containing a condition that never stops polling:
```java
var runner = LocalDurableTestRunner.create(String.class, (input, ctx) ->
ctx.runInChildContext("child", String.class, child ->
child.waitForCondition(
"poll",
String.class,
(state, stepCtx) -> WaitForConditionResult.continuePolling(state),
WaitForConditionConfig.builder()
.waitStrategy(WaitStrategies.fixedDelay(
2, Duration.ofSeconds(1)))
.build())));
var result = runner.runUntilComplete("test");
```
The local runner reports `FAILED`, but the root error is absent. Running the equivalent handler through SAM Local can produce this history:
```text
StepFailed (WaitForCondition)
ContextFailed (RunInChildContext)
InvocationCompleted
ExecutionSucceeded
```
### SDK Version
`2.1.0`; the behavior is also present on current `2.1.1-SNAPSHOT` / `main` as of 2026-08-19.
### Java Version
17
### Is this a regression?
No known working version.
### Last Working Version
N/A
### Proposed Fix
Always fall back to serializing the thrown exception when an SDK exception has no embedded error:
```java
if (e instanceof DurableOperationException operationException
&& operationException.getErrorObject() != null) {
return operationException.getErrorObject();
}
return ExceptionHelper.buildErrorObject(e, serDes);
```
Apply equivalent null fallbacks when checkpointing failures in `WaitForConditionOperation` and `ChildContextOperation`, so operation history and replay also retain the error.
Add an integration test for max-attempt exhaustion inside synchronous `runInChildContext` that asserts:
- the step is failed with error details;
- the child context is failed with error details;
- the root invocation is `FAILED` with an error.
### Related Issue
The SAM Local emulator status-handling defect exposed by this null error is tracked in aws/aws-durable-execution-sdk-python#656.
Contributor guide
Research direction
Start with WaitForConditionOperation.handleCheckFailure(), ChildContextOperation.handleChildContextFailure(), and DurableExecutor.buildErrorObject(), then run the synchronous runInChildContext reproduction with LocalDurableTestRunner. Add the null-error fallbacks and an integration test covering max-attempt exhaustion. Done means the step, child context, and root invocation are all FAILED with error details.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- java
- Domain
- backend, testing
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Active
- Clarity
- Clearly specified
- Newbie friendliness
- 68/100