What causes "JSON.stringify(flattenError(error))" in amruthpillai/reactive-resume?

Catch the error and JSON.parse(err.message) to display the flattened field errors to the user.

amruthpillai/reactive-resume · warning · Error

JSON.stringify(flattenError(error))

Error message

JSON.stringify(flattenError(error))

What it means

rethrowAsImportError converts a ZodError from resume parsing into a generic Error whose message is the JSON-serialized flattened error (issue + form errors). It is thrown during resume import when the imported payload, after transformation, fails the resume Zod schema. The message string is intentionally machine-readable JSON, not prose.

Source

Thrown at packages/import/src/error.ts:6

import { flattenError, ZodError } from "zod";

/** Rethrows a ZodError as a serialized string error; re-throws other errors as-is. */
export function rethrowAsImportError(error: unknown): never {
	if (error instanceof ZodError) {
		throw new Error(JSON.stringify(flattenError(error)));
	}
	throw error;
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 3a5b12e2a4)

Solutions

Catch the error and JSON.parse(err.message) to display the flattened field errors to the user.
Pre-validate the imported object against the public resume schema before calling the import pipeline.
Update the export source to include all required resume fields for the current schema version.
If migrating an old export, run it through the schema migration/upgrade step before import.

Example fix

// before: surfacing raw JSON message
try { await importResume(file); }
catch (e) { toast.error(String(e.message)); }
// after: parse and display flattened errors
try { await importResume(file); }
catch (e) {
  const flat = safeJsonParse(e.message);
  toast.error(flat ? formatFlattened(flat) : 'Import failed');
}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

import { parseResumeData } from '@reactive-resume/schema';
const parsed = parseResumeData(raw); // throws ZodError before the import pipeline does

Type guard

function isSerializedZod(e: unknown): boolean {
  if (!(e instanceof Error)) return false;
  try { JSON.parse(e.message); return true; } catch { return false; }
}

Try / catch

try { await importResume(file); }
catch (e) {
  const flat = isSerializedZod(e) ? JSON.parse((e as Error).message) : null;
  ui.error(flat ? formatFlattened(flat) : 'Import failed');
}

Prevention

Pre-validate imports against the public resume schema.
Migrate old exports to the current schema before import.
Display flattened field errors to the user.

When it happens

Trigger: Importing a JSON/ZIP/LinkedIn/Reactive-Resume export whose structure does not match the current resume schema; a version skew between the export producer and the running schema; a partially-corrupt export.

Common situations: User uploads an export from an older/newer Reactive Resume version; a third-party 'resume.json' missing required fields; an import adapter that didn't fill required defaults.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of amruthpillai/reactive-resume@3a5b12e2a4 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/cf05a5a0765d65de. Report an issue: GitHub.