aws / aws/aws-durable-execution-sdk-python
[Bug]: Emulator retries invalid invocation outputs that the service fails immediately
- Dominant language
- Python
- Stars
- 53
- Forks
- 25
- Avg merge
- 1d 17h
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 37
Description
### Expected Behavior
The emulator should mirror the service's handling of invalid invocation outputs. Verified service behavior:
Most invalid outputs **fail the execution immediately, with no retry**. This applies to:
- `Status=FAILED` with a `Result` present
- `Status=SUCCEEDED` with an `Error` present
- a missing or unrecognized `Status`
- an unparseable/malformed invocation output payload
In each case the service fails the execution with an error object of the form:
```json
{
"ErrorType": "InvalidParameterValueException",
"ErrorMessage": ""
}
```
There is exactly **one retried case**: `Status=PENDING` when the execution has no pending operations. The service treats this as a transient runtime-level error (it can arise from SDK race conditions that resolve on replay) and retries the invocation, up to 3 consecutive attempts, before failing the execution with the same `InvalidParameterValueException`-shaped error.
### Actual Behavior
In `aws_durable_execution_sdk_python_testing.executor.Executor._finish_invocation()`, **all** validation failures from `_validate_invocation_response_and_store()` are routed through the same retry path:
```python
except (InvalidParameterValueException, IllegalStateException) as e:
...
self._set_invocation_gate(execution_arn, InvocationState.PRE_INVOKE)
self._retry_invocation(execution, error_obj)
return
```
`_retry_invocation` re-invokes the handler up to `MAX_CONSECUTIVE_FAILED_ATTEMPTS = 5` times with a flat `RETRY_BACKOFF_SECONDS = 5` backoff before failing.
Consequences:
- A deterministically invalid output (e.g. `SUCCEEDED` with an `Error`) is re-invoked 5 times before failing, where the service fails on the first response. For a deterministic handler this adds ~25 seconds and 4 pointless invocations, and every re-invocation replays the handler.
- The one case the service *does* retry (`PENDING` with no pending operations) gets 5 attempts instead of 3.
- The terminal error surfaced to the customer is `ErrorObject.from_exception(e)` rather than the service's `{ErrorType: "InvalidParameterValueException", ErrorMessage: ...}` shape.
### Proposed Fix
In `_finish_invocation`, distinguish the two classes:
- Fail-fast validation errors (`FAILED`+`Result`, `SUCCEEDED`+`Error`, missing/unknown status, malformed output): fail the execution immediately with an `InvalidParameterValueException`-typed error object carrying the validation message.
- `PENDING` with no pending operations: keep the retry path, with a consecutive-attempt cap of 3.
Regression tests:
- each fail-fast case produces a FAILED execution after a **single** invocation, with the `InvalidParameterValueException` error shape;
- `PENDING` with no pending operations retries and fails after 3 consecutive attempts;
- a transient case (invalid output once, then a valid `PENDING`/`SUCCEEDED`) recovers without failing the execution.
### Related
- Found while investigating https://github.com/aws/aws-durable-execution-sdk-python/issues/656 (FAILED without ErrorObject completed as SUCCEEDED by local emulator). This issue covers the adjacent divergence in the same code path: how invalid outputs are retried vs. failed.
### SDK Version
`aws-durable-execution-sdk-python-testing` current `main` as of 2026-08-21.
### Python Version
3.13
### Is this a regression?
No known working version.
Contributor guide
Research direction
Start in aws_durable_execution_sdk_python_testing.executor.Executor._finish_invocation() and trace _validate_invocation_response_and_store() and _retry_invocation(). Reproduce the listed invalid-output cases and the PENDING case, then add regression coverage showing fail-fast behavior, the InvalidParameterValueException error shape, a three-attempt PENDING retry cap, and recovery after a transient invalid output.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- backend
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Active
- Clarity
- Clearly specified
- Newbie friendliness
- 72/100