Tencent/tinker · critical · TinkerRuntimeException

can't get the right intent return code

Error message

can't get the right intent return code

What it means

Thrown by TinkerLoadResult#load when the patch-load return code stored in the load-result Intent equals ERROR_LOAD_GET_INTENT_FAIL. That code means the loader could not determine a real result code from the load Intent (corrupt/missing extras), which is an internal inconsistency rather than a normal load failure — hence the runtime exception.

Source

Thrown at tinker-android/tinker-android-lib/src/main/java/com/tencent/tinker/lib/tinker/TinkerLoadResult.java:150

                    errorCode = ShareConstants.ERROR_LOAD_EXCEPTION_DEX;
                    break;
                case ShareConstants.ERROR_LOAD_PATCH_VERSION_RESOURCE_LOAD_EXCEPTION:
                    errorCode = ShareConstants.ERROR_LOAD_EXCEPTION_RESOURCE;
                    break;
                case ShareConstants.ERROR_LOAD_PATCH_UNCAUGHT_EXCEPTION:
                    errorCode = ShareConstants.ERROR_LOAD_EXCEPTION_UNCAUGHT;
                    break;
                default:
                    break;
            }
            tinker.getLoadReporter().onLoadException(exception, errorCode);
            return false;
        }

        switch (loadCode) {
            case ShareConstants.ERROR_LOAD_GET_INTENT_FAIL:
                ShareTinkerLog.e(TAG, "can't get the right intent return code");
                throw new TinkerRuntimeException("can't get the right intent return code");
            case ShareConstants.ERROR_LOAD_DISABLE:
                ShareTinkerLog.w(TAG, "tinker is disable, just return");
                break;
            // case ShareConstants.ERROR_LOAD_PATCH_NOT_SUPPORTED:
            //     ShareTinkerLog.w(TAG, "tinker is not supported, just return");
            //     break;
            case ShareConstants.ERROR_LOAD_PATCH_DIRECTORY_NOT_EXIST:
            case ShareConstants.ERROR_LOAD_PATCH_INFO_NOT_EXIST:
                ShareTinkerLog.w(TAG, "can't find patch file, is ok, just return");
                break;

            case ShareConstants.ERROR_LOAD_PATCH_INFO_CORRUPTED:
                ShareTinkerLog.e(TAG, "path info corrupted");
                tinker.getLoadReporter().onLoadPatchInfoCorrupted(oldVersion, newVersion, patchInfoFile);
                break;

            case ShareConstants.ERROR_LOAD_PATCH_INFO_BLANK:
                ShareTinkerLog.e(TAG, "path info blank, wait main process to restart");

View on GitHub (pinned to 1b7ea02c23)

Solutions

1. Align tinker versions across all modules (tinker-android-lib, loader stub generated by the gradle plugin).
2. Clean the patch: Tinker.with(app).cleanPatch() and let the app relaunch, so the bad result Intent is regenerated.
3. Update to a maintained Tinker fork/release; older builds had Intent-extra loss issues on some Android versions.

Example fix

// recovery in a custom LoadReporter / ApplicationLike
try {
    tinker.loadPatchAndInvoke(this, patchFile, true, LoadReporter.class.getName());
} catch (TinkerRuntimeException e) {
    tinker.cleanPatch(); // drop malformed patch state and continue unpatched
}

// before triggering a load, sanity-check tinker state
Tinker tinker = Tinker.with(app);
if (!tinker.isTinkerEnabled() || !tinker.isTinkerLoaded()) {
    // do not attempt loadAndInvoke; clean inconsistent state first if a patch dir exists
    File patchDir = tinker.getPatchDirectory();
    if (patchDir != null && patchDir.exists() && isMalformedState()) {
        tinker.cleanPatch();
    }
}

try {
    tinker.loadPatchAndInvoke(context, patchFile, useVerify, reporterClass);
} catch (TinkerRuntimeException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().contains("intent return code")) {
        Tinker.with(context).cleanPatch(); // drop malformed state, continue unpatched
        // optionally re-attempt download+apply on next release
    } else {
        throw e;
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Tinker.with(app).loadPatchAndInvoke(...) / normal load path reaching TinkerLoadResult.load with a result Intent whose return-code extra is absent or ERROR_LOAD_GET_INTENT_FAIL — typically after the patch-loading Intent was rewritten, trimmed by the system, or built by mismatched tinker component versions.

Common situations: Mixing tinker-android-lib versions between the loader stub and the library, aggressive Intent sanitization in ROMs or hooked processes (Xposed-style tools), or a patch-process crash leaving a malformed result Intent persisted for the next launch.

Related errors

• getPatchPathExtra, but intent is null
• getPatchUseEmergencyMode, but intent is null
• getPatchResultExtra, but intent is null
• intentResult must not be null.
• error load patch version file not exist, but file is null

AI-assisted analysis of Tencent/tinker@1b7ea02c23 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/894d33366d6be97a. Report an issue: GitHub.