openai / openai/openai-java

Web search query should not be considered required

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bug spec
Dominant language
Kotlin
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

Using com.openai:openai-java:2.19.1

Unclear if this is a bug or if it's working as designed, so bare with me 😅

When settingresponseValidation=true within RequestOptions streaming responses aborts when the server emits an early web search item via response.output_item.added because the payload doesn't have a search query set.

Here's that payload (no query item here yet):

{
  "type": "response.output_item.added",
  "sequence_number": 2,
  "output_index": 0,
  "item": {
    "id": "ws_68877a8f32148198991d63ef036cf83f0d6f8dff2e2dac1b",
    "type": "web_search_call",
    "status": "in_progress",
    "action": {
      "type": "search"
    }
  }
}

The SDK calls validate() before my handler runs and throws the following:

java.util.concurrent.CompletionException: com.openai.errors.OpenAIInvalidDataException: `query` is not set
    at com.openai.core.http.AsyncStreamResponseKt$toAsync$1$subscribe$1$2.invoke(AsyncStreamResponse.kt:125)
    …
Caused by: com.openai.errors.OpenAIInvalidDataException: `query` is not set

When responseValidation=false I do get the ResponseOutputItemAddedEvent sent back to me (without the validation failing)

ResponseOutputItemAddedEvent{item=ResponseOutputItem{webSearchCall=ResponseFunctionWebSearch{id=ws_12345, action=Action{search=Search{query=, type=search, additionalProperties={}}}, status=in_progress, type=web_search_call, additionalProperties={}}}, outputIndex=0, sequenceNumber=2, type=response.output_item.added, additionalProperties={}}

And can lean on the ResponseCompletedEvent to gather a response with the appropriate web results added

So to conclude, this is what happens:

  • sending in a query: "use web search tool to find what the top 5 sneakers in US are"
  • my handler captures ResponseCreatedEvent
  • my handler captures ResponseInProgressEvent
ResponseStreamEvent{inProgress=ResponseInProgressEvent{response=Response{id=resp_123, createdAt=1.753712842E9, error=null, incompleteDetails=null, instructions=Instructions{**instructions**}
, additionalProperties={}}}, Tool{webSearch=WebSearchTool{type=web_search_preview, searchContextSize=medium, userLocation=UserLocation{type=approximate, city=null, country=US, region=null, timezone=null, additionalProperties={}}, additionalProperties={}}}], topP=1.0, background=false, maxOutputTokens=null, maxToolCalls=null, previousResponseId=resp_123, prompt=, reasoning=Reasoning{effort=null, generateSummary=, summary=null, additionalProperties={}}, serviceTier=auto, status=in_progress, text=ResponseTextConfig{format=ResponseFormatTextConfig{text=ResponseFormatText{type=text, additionalProperties={}}}, additionalProperties={}}, topLogprobs=0, truncation=disabled, usage=null, user=null, additionalProperties={store=true, safety_identifier=null, prompt_cache_key=null}}, sequenceNumber=1, type=response.in_progress, additionalProperties={}}}
  • receives the web search call in ResponseOutputItemAddedEvent
ResponseOutputItemAddedEvent{item=ResponseOutputItem{webSearchCall=ResponseFunctionWebSearch{id=ws_1234, action=Action{search=Search{query=, type=search, additionalProperties={}}}, status=in_progress, type=web_search_call, additionalProperties={}}}, outputIndex=0, sequenceNumber=2, type=response.output_item.added, additionalProperties={}}

and calls this before it gets back to us, but should it be validating at this point? Also I'm unsure when the query actually gets set, but I'm seeing this in the openAi docs mentioning query may / may not be set at all times

ResponseFunctionWebSearch{id=ws_1234, action=Action{search=Search{query=, type=search, additionalProperties={}}}, status=in_progress, type=web_search_call, additionalProperties={}}
  • we still like responseValidation=true to be enforced

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Research direction

Start with openai-java-core/src/main/kotlin/com/openai/core/RequestOptions.kt and openai-java-core/src/main/kotlin/com/openai/models/responses/ResponseOutputItem.kt, especially validate(), then trace AsyncStreamResponse handling for response.output_item.added. Reproduce the web search payload with responseValidation=true and compare it with responseValidation=false. Done means early web search events are handled without losing validation for later response data.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
kotlin
Domain
api, backend
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

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