microsoft / microsoft/kiota

$ref to another file throws: Circular reference detected while resolving schema

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Csharp status:waiting-for-triage type:bug
Dominant language
C#
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

What are you generating using Kiota, clients or plugins?

API Client/SDK

In what context or format are you using Kiota?

Nuget tool

Client library/SDK language

Csharp

Describe the bug

Kiota doesn't seems to like nested $refs that point to other files (fragments).
Running kiota with the provided openapi throws this error:

 crit: Kiota.Builder.KiotaBuilder[0]
       error updating the client: Circular reference detected while resolving schema: error.openapi.json#/schemas/ErrorResponse
Expected behavior

Should work

How to reproduce
dotnet kiota generate -l CSharp -d <given openapi>
Open API description file
{
  "openapi": "3.0.1",
  "info": {
    "title": "e-conomic Invoices API",
    "description": "e-conomic REST API for invoice management - Draft invoices, Booked invoices, and Invoice totals",
    "version": "1.0.0"
  },
  "paths": {
    "/foo": {
      "get": {
        "responses": {
          "400": {
            "description": "Bad Request",
            "content": {
              "application/json": {
                "schema": {
                  "$ref": "#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse"
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "components": {
    "schemas": {
      "ErrorResponse": {
        "$ref": "error.openapi.json#/schemas/ErrorResponse"
      }
    }
  }
}

error.openapi.json

{
  "schemas": {
    "ErrorResponse": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "message": {
          "type": "string",
          "description": "Error message"
        }
      },
      "description": "Error response"
    }
  }
}
Kiota Version

1.29.0

Latest Kiota version known to work for scenario above?(Not required)

No response

Known Workarounds

referencing the fragment directly seems to work, instead of referencing the schema that then references the fragment

{
  "paths": {
    "/foo": {
      "get": {
        "responses": {
          "400": {
            "description": "Bad Request",
            "content": {
              "application/json": {
                "schema": {
                  "$ref": "error.openapi.json#/schemas/ErrorResponse" // <-- direct
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
Configuration

No response

Debug output
Click to expand log ```
</details>


### Other information

_No response_

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by running the provided dotnet kiota generate -l CSharp -d <given openapi> command with the two OpenAPI files and trace nested $ref resolution. The fix is complete when the external fragment referenced through #/components/schemas/ErrorResponse no longer raises a circular-reference error and C# client generation succeeds.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
csharp, openapi
Domain
api, tooling
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
42/100

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