getsentry / getsentry/sentry-java

Android Replay: BufferCaptureStrategy.stop() can persist replay state after deleting replay cache dir

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#6,094 1 comment 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
Android Bug Platform: Java Replays
Dominant language
Kotlin
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Description

### Problem Statement

Android Session Replay can throw an internal error during replay teardown:

```text
Failed to execute task CaptureStrategy.runInBackground
java.io.IOException: No such file or directory
...
at io.sentry.android.replay.ReplayCache.persistSegmentValues
...
at io.sentry.android.replay.capture.BufferCaptureStrategy.stop
```

This appears to happen when stopping a buffering replay.

### Likely root cause

`BufferCaptureStrategy.stop()` currently deletes the replay cache directory and then updates replay state in the same task:

- delete replay cache dir
- set `currentSegment = -1`

The `currentSegment` setter persists state through `ReplayCache.persistSegmentValues(...)`.

On the replay worker thread, that persistence runs inline, so it can try to recreate/write `.ongoing_segment` after the replay directory has already been deleted.

That leads to:

```text
java.io.IOException: No such file or directory
at java.io.File.createNewFile
at io.sentry.android.replay.ReplayCache.persistSegmentValues
```

### Why this matters

This is at least noisy internal error logging, but it may also contribute to brittle replay lifecycle behavior in manual/custom flows that use combinations of:

- `flush()`
- `pause()`
- `stop()`
- `startBuffering()`

In our investigation, this showed up while testing a custom User Feedback + Replay workaround, where replay behavior was already timing-sensitive.

### Relevant code path

Conceptually, the flow is:

- `BufferCaptureStrategy.stop()`
- `FileUtils.deleteRecursively(replayCacheDir)`
- `currentSegment = -1`
- `persistSegmentValues(...)`
- `ongoingSegmentFile?.createNewFile()`
- parent folder no longer exists

### Expected behavior

Stopping replay should not try to persist replay state into a directory that has already been deleted.

### Actual behavior

Replay teardown logs `No such file or directory` from `ReplayCache.persistSegmentValues`.

### Suggested fix direction

Any of these would likely resolve it:

- clear/persist mutable state before deleting the replay directory
- mark the cache closed before state mutation can persist
- guard `persistSegmentValues` against a missing/deleted parent directory during teardown
- avoid persisting teardown sentinel values like `currentSegment = -1` once shutdown has begun

### Customer-visible context

This was observed during a real customer reproduction involving Android Session Replay plus custom in-app User Feedback, where the workaround flow exercised replay stop/restart behavior repeatedly.

### Logs

```text
Failed to execute task CaptureStrategy.runInBackground
java.io.IOException: No such file or directory
at java.io.UnixFileSystem.createFileExclusively0(Native Method)
at java.io.UnixFileSystem.createFileExclusively(UnixFileSystem.java:373)
at java.io.File.createNewFile(File.java:1022)
at io.sentry.android.replay.ReplayCache.persistSegmentValues$sentry_android_replay_release(ReplayCache.kt:290)
at io.sentry.android.replay.capture.BaseCaptureStrategy$special$$inlined$persistableAtomic$default$2$2.invoke(BaseCaptureStrategy.kt:240)
at io.sentry.android.replay.capture.BaseCaptureStrategy$special$$inlined$persistableAtomic$default$2.runInBackground(BaseCaptureStrategy.kt:227)
at io.sentry.android.replay.capture.BaseCaptureStrategy$special$$inlined$persistableAtomic$default$2.setValue(BaseCaptureStrategy.kt:239)
at io.sentry.android.replay.capture.BaseCaptureStrategy.setCurrentSegment(BaseCaptureStrategy.kt:88)
at io.sentry.android.replay.capture.BufferCaptureStrategy.stop$lambda$0(BufferCaptureStrategy.kt:84)
```

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start with BufferCaptureStrategy.kt and ReplayCache.kt, following BufferCaptureStrategy.stop() through the currentSegment setter and persistSegmentValues(). Reproduce the buffering replay teardown path, especially after deleting the replay cache directory, and verify that stopping replay no longer logs the No such file or directory error.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
android, kotlin
Domain
mobile-dev
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
70/100

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