createModDiscussionConversation masks the 10000-char body limit as "struct field 'service' doesn't exist"

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Assessment

Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Newbie friendliness
58/100
Issue type
Bug
Clarity
Mostly clear
Activity status
Quiet
Tech stack
typescript
Domain
api, backend

Research direction

Start at the GenericPluginClient.CreateModmailConversation entry point and reproduce the oversized body case, comparing its response handling with reddit.modMail.reply and GenericPluginClient.CreateConversationMessage. Done means a 10001-character body surfaces the clear validation error, while a 10000-character body still succeeds.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

Summary

reddit.modMail.createModDiscussionConversation(...) with a bodyMarkdown over the modmail length limit fails with an unhelpful gRPC response-parse error instead of reporting the limit. reddit.modMail.reply(...) with the same oversized body reports it clearly; the create path masks the real error.

Environment
  • @devvit/web 0.13.4 (Devvit Web / server)
Reproduction
import { context, reddit } from '@devvit/web/server';

// one character over the limit
const body = 'A'.repeat(10001);

// (1) create: cryptic parse error
await reddit.modMail.createModDiscussionConversation({
  subject: 'x',
  bodyMarkdown: body,
  subredditId: context.subredditId,
});

// (2) reply (same body): clear error
await reddit.modMail.reply({ conversationId, body, isInternal: true });
Actual

(1) create throws:

2 UNKNOWN: grpc invocation failed with status 2; failed to parse response body: : : struct field for "service" doesn't exist in any of 1 places to unmarshal
    at GenericPluginClient.CreateModmailConversation

(2) reply throws (same body):

2 UNKNOWN: grpc invocation failed with status 2; Bad request: This field must be under 10000 characters
Error in field: body
    at GenericPluginClient.CreateConversationMessage
Expected

The create path should surface the same clear "This field must be under 10000 characters" error as the reply path (perhaps tolerate unknown fields in the response). The create endpoint appears to deserialize Reddit's 400 into a proto lacking a service field, turning a clear validation error into an opaque parse failure.

Notes
  • A body of exactly 10000 chars succeeds (both create and reply); 10001 fails. This means the "must be under 10000 characters" wording is off by one (the real max is 10000 inclusive).
  • Confirmed with bodies of 11000 and exactly 10001 characters.
  • Searched open/closed issues and PRs for the error string and createModDiscussionConversation; no existing report.
Dominant language
TypeScript
Stars
210
Forks
88
PR merge metrics
No merged PRs in 30d

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