Hmbown/CodeWhale · error · Error

Too many observation facts.

Error message

Too many observation facts.

What it means

An observation may carry at most 48 scalar `facts`; exceeding this throws `Too many observation facts.` Facts are metadata, not content, so the hard cap keeps evidence records bounded and prevents unbounded memory/log growth.

Solutions

1. Trim facts to the most relevant 48 keys before validating
2. Split the data across multiple observation records
3. Promote large/detailed data out of facts into your own storage and reference it by an id

Example fix

// before
facts: Object.fromEntries(allMetrics.map(m => [m.name, m.value])) // 200 entries
// after
facts: Object.fromEntries(allMetrics.slice(0, 48).map(m => [m.name, m.value]))

if (rec.facts && Object.keys(rec.facts).length > 48) throw new Error('facts exceed 48-entry limit');

const factsBounded = (f: Record<string, unknown>) => Object.keys(f).length <= 48;

try { validateObservation(rec); } catch (e) { if (e.message === 'Too many observation facts.') splitIntoMultipleObservations(rec); throw e; }

When it happens

Trigger: validateObservation (or bundle ingestion via normalizedEvent) given an observation whose `facts` object has 49+ keys.

Common situations: Producers dumping every environment variable or metric into facts; aggregating multiple observations' facts into one record; a bug concatenating facts across events.

Understand the failure class

Background: payload too large / request exceeds maximum size: why libraries cap bytes and how to fix oversize payloads — this error's family across 50 libraries.

Related errors

• Codewhale terminal receipt contained an invalid count
• Codewhale terminal receipt exceeded its string bound
• Codewhale terminal receipt exceeded its total bound
• estimated_retained_payload_bytes is smaller than the frozen…
• Invalid evidence bundle or record limit exceeded.

AI-assisted analysis of Hmbown/CodeWhale@433685b202 (2026-09-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e9aa190b299dc1dc. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at pet/src/core/evidence.ts:91

const strings = (v:unknown,field:string,allowEmpty=false):string[]=>{
  if(!Array.isArray(v)||(!allowEmpty&&!v.length)||v.length>256)throw new Error(`Invalid ${field}.`);
  const out=v.map(x=>text(x,field));if(new Set(out).size!==out.length)throw new Error(`Duplicate ${field}.`);return out;
};
const boolean = (v:unknown,field:string):boolean=>{if(typeof v!=='boolean')throw new Error(`Invalid ${field}.`);return v;};
const optionalNumber=(o:Record<string,unknown>,key:string)=>o[key]===undefined?undefined:num(o[key],key);
function onlyKeys(o:Record<string,unknown>,keys:string[],label:string):void{
  for(const k of Object.keys(o))if(!keys.includes(k))throw new Error(`Unknown ${label} field: ${k}.`);
}
/** All unrecognized fields are rejected, never secretly retained in metadata-only evidence. */
export function validateObservation(input:unknown):Observation {
  const o=object(input,'observation');
  onlyKeys(o,['version','id','runId','operationId','sourceId','epoch','sequence','time','receivedAt','subject','stage','surface','action','effect','status','target','actionDigest','authority','correlation','facts'],'observation');
  if(o.version!==1)throw new Error('Unsupported observation version.');
  const t=object(o.time,'time'),s=object(o.subject,'subject');
  onlyKeys(t,['wallMs','clockId','monotonicMs','taskMs','uncertaintyMs'],'time');onlyKeys(s,['agentId','sandboxId','isolationGroup'],'subject');
  const seq=num(o.sequence,'sequence',1);if(!Number.isSafeInteger(seq))throw new Error('sequence must be an integer.');
  const facts=object(o.facts??{},'facts'),safeFacts:Observation['facts']={};
  if(Object.keys(facts).length>48)throw new Error('Too many observation facts.');
  for(const [k,v] of Object.entries(facts)){
    text(k,'fact key',80);if(['__proto__','prototype','constructor'].includes(k))throw new Error('Unsafe fact key.');
    if(typeof v==='string')safeFacts[k]=text(v,'fact value',512);
    else if(typeof v==='number')safeFacts[k]=num(v,'fact value',-Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER);
    else if(v===null||typeof v==='boolean')safeFacts[k]=v;
    else throw new Error('Facts must be scalar metadata, not content objects.');
  }
  let target:Observation['target'];if(o.target!==undefined){const a=object(o.target,'target');onlyKeys(a,['id','kind','version','boundary'],'target');target={id:text(a.id,'target.id'),kind:text(a.kind,'target.kind',64),version:optionalText(a,'version'),boundary:a.boundary===undefined?undefined:enumValue(a.boundary,['local','external','unknown'] as const,'boundary')};}
  let authority:Observation['authority'];if(o.authority!==undefined){const a=object(o.authority,'authority');onlyKeys(a,['grantId','claimed'],'authority');authority={grantId:optionalText(a,'grantId'),claimed:a.claimed===undefined?undefined:boolean(a.claimed,'claimed')};}
  let correlation:Observation['correlation'];if(o.correlation!==undefined){const a=object(o.correlation,'correlation');onlyKeys(a,['sessionId','requestId','parentOperationId','messageId'],'correlation');correlation={sessionId:optionalText(a,'sessionId'),requestId:optionalText(a,'requestId'),parentOperationId:optionalText(a,'parentOperationId'),messageId:optionalText(a,'messageId')};}
  return {version:1,id:text(o.id,'id'),runId:text(o.runId,'runId'),operationId:optionalText(o,'operationId'),sourceId:text(o.sourceId,'sourceId'),epoch:text(o.epoch,'epoch'),sequence:seq,
    time:{wallMs:num(t.wallMs,'wallMs'),clockId:optionalText(t,'clockId'),monotonicMs:optionalNumber(t,'monotonicMs'),taskMs:optionalNumber(t,'taskMs'),uncertaintyMs:optionalNumber(t,'uncertaintyMs')},receivedAt:optionalNumber(o,'receivedAt'),
    subject:{agentId:text(s.agentId,'agentId'),sandboxId:optionalText(s,'sandboxId'),isolationGroup:optionalText(s,'isolationGroup')},stage:enumValue(o.stage,STAGES,'stage'),surface:enumValue(o.surface,SURFACES,'surface'),action:text(o.action,'action',128),effect:enumValue(o.effect,EFFECTS,'effect'),status:enumValue(o.status,['started','completed','error','unknown'],'status'),target,actionDigest:optionalText(o,'actionDigest'),authority,correlation,facts:safeFacts};
}
export function validatePolicy(input:unknown):BoundaryPolicy {
  const o=object(input,'policy');onlyKeys(o,['version','id','sources','grants','expectedSurfaces','forbiddenCrossGroup'],'policy');
  if(o.version!==1||!Array.isArray(o.sources)||o.sources.length>256||!Array.isArray(o.grants)||o.grants.length>2048)throw new Error('Invalid policy version or limits.');
  const sources=o.sources.map(x=>{const a=object(x,'source');onlyKeys(a,['id','stages','surfaces','runIds','sandboxIds','isolationGroups','heartbeatMs','description'],'source');return {id:text(a.id,'source.id'),stages:strings(a.stages,'stages').map(v=>enumValue(v,STAGES,'stage')),surfaces:strings(a.surfaces,'surfaces').map(v=>enumValue(v,SURFACES,'surface')),runIds:strings(a.runIds,'runIds'),sandboxIds:a.sandboxIds===undefined?undefined:strings(a.sandboxIds,'sandboxIds'),isolationGroups:a.isolationGroups===undefined?undefined:strings(a.isolationGroups,'isolationGroups'),heartbeatMs:num(a.heartbeatMs,'heartbeatMs',1),description:optionalText(a,'description')};});

View on GitHub (pinned to 433685b202)