BloopAI/vibe-kanban · critical

Execution process serialization should not fail

Error message

Execution process serialization should not fail

What it means

Panic raised by `Patch::add` when `serde_json::to_value(process)` fails to serialize an `ExecutionProcess`. Serde JSON serialization of a plain data struct cannot fail (no maps with non-string keys, no IO), so the library treats failure as an impossible invariant and panics via expect.

Source

Thrown at crates/services/src/services/events/patches.rs:30

/// Helper functions for creating execution process-specific patches
pub mod execution_process_patch {
    use super::*;

    fn execution_process_path(process_id: Uuid) -> String {
        format!(
            "/execution_processes/{}",
            escape_pointer_segment(&process_id.to_string())
        )
    }

    /// Create patch for adding a new execution process
    pub fn add(process: &ExecutionProcess) -> Patch {
        Patch(vec![PatchOperation::Add(AddOperation {
            path: execution_process_path(process.id)
                .try_into()
                .expect("Execution process path should be valid"),
            value: serde_json::to_value(process)
                .expect("Execution process serialization should not fail"),
        })])
    }

    /// Create patch for updating an existing execution process
    pub fn replace(process: &ExecutionProcess) -> Patch {
        Patch(vec![PatchOperation::Replace(ReplaceOperation {
            path: execution_process_path(process.id)
                .try_into()
                .expect("Execution process path should be valid"),
            value: serde_json::to_value(process)
                .expect("Execution process serialization should not fail"),
        })])
    }

    /// Create patch for removing an execution process
    pub fn remove(process_id: Uuid) -> Patch {
        Patch(vec![PatchOperation::Remove(RemoveOperation {
            path: execution_process_path(process_id)

View on GitHub (pinned to 4deb7eca8f)

Solutions

1. Inspect ExecutionProcess (crates/db/src/models/execution_process.rs) for custom serialize_with/serde_with attributes or manual Serialize impls that can return Err; remove or fix them.
2. Ensure no field serializes into a serde_json::Value::Object with non-string keys (e.g. HashMap<i64, _>).
3. If failure must be tolerated, replace the expect with a match on to_value and return a Result or fall back to Value::Null.
4. Run `cargo test -p db` round-trip tests (serialize then deserialize an ExecutionProcess) to catch the failing field.

Example fix

// before
value: serde_json::to_value(process).expect("Execution process serialization should not fail"),
// after
value: serde_json::to_value(process).unwrap_or(serde_json::Value::Null), // or propagate Result

// Pre-check that the struct round-trips through serde_json:
let v = serde_json::to_value(&process).expect("probe serialization");
let _back: ExecutionProcess = serde_json::from_value(v).expect("round-trip failed");

fn is_json_serializable<T: serde::Serialize>(v: &T) -> bool {
    serde_json::to_value(v).is_ok()
}

// Panics are not catchable in normal Rust; validate first or use catch_unwind for belt-and-braces:
let result = std::panic::catch_unwind(std::panic::AssertUnwindSafe(|| execution_process_patch::add(&process)));

When it happens

Trigger: Calling `execution_process_patch::add(&process)` where the ExecutionProcess model contains a serde serializer that errors — e.g. a custom `#[serde(serialize_with)]` returning Err, a field serialized to a Map with non-string keys, or a poisoned/failed serialization adapter introduced by schema changes.

Common situations: Adding a custom Serialize impl or serde_with attribute to ExecutionProcess that can fail; upgrading serde_json and relying on an error path that previously never ran; generating the struct's TS/serde derives from a macro emitting an invalid serializer.

Related errors

• Workspace serialization should not fail
• Scratch serialization should not fail
• Default profiles v3 JSON is invalid
• Execution process path should be valid
• Scratch path should be valid

AI-assisted analysis of BloopAI/vibe-kanban@4deb7eca8f (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/65e972122daaa4c6. Report an issue: GitHub.