astrid-runtime/astrid · error

unexpected response from kernel: {body:?}

Error message

unexpected response from kernel: {body:?}

What it means

`run_list` sends an `AdminRequestKind::EnvList` request and destructures the reply as `AdminResponseBody::EnvList(entries)`. Any other AdminResponseBody (including an embedded error already surfaced by into_result) triggers this bail with the body debug-printed. It is a response-shape guard for the list operation.

Source

Thrown at crates/astrid-cli/src/commands/secret.rs:358

            args.key, principal, capsule
        ))
    );
    Ok(ExitCode::SUCCESS)
}

async fn run_list(args: &ListArgs) -> Result<ExitCode> {
    let principal = context::resolve_agent(args.agent.as_deref())?;
    let format = ValueFormat::parse(&args.format);
    let mut client = crate::admin_client::connect_as_active_agent().await?;
    let body = client
        .request(AdminRequestKind::EnvList {
            principal,
            capsule: None,
        })
        .await?;
    let body = crate::admin_client::into_result(body)?;
    let AdminResponseBody::EnvList(entries) = body else {
        anyhow::bail!("unexpected response from kernel: {body:?}");
    };
    let mut keys = entries
        .into_iter()
        .map(secret_key_from_entry)
        .collect::<Vec<_>>();

    keys.sort_by(|a, b| a.capsule.cmp(&b.capsule).then_with(|| a.key.cmp(&b.key)));
    if !format.is_pretty() {
        emit_structured(&keys, format)?;
        return Ok(ExitCode::SUCCESS);
    }
    if keys.is_empty() {
        println!("{}", Theme::info("(no secrets stored)"));
        return Ok(ExitCode::SUCCESS);
    }
    println!(
        "{:<24}  {:<32}  {:<12}  {}",
        "CAPSULE".bold(),

View on GitHub (pinned to affd8760f4)

Solutions

  1. Rebuild/update CLI and daemon to matching versions and restart the daemon.
  2. Inspect the printed `{body:?}` to identify which variant actually came back and why.
  3. Verify the admin socket points at the astrid kernel admin service.
  4. Extend the match in run_list if the protocol intentionally gained a new response variant.

Example fix

// before
let AdminResponseBody::EnvList(entries) = body else {
    anyhow::bail!("unexpected response from kernel: {body:?}");
};
// after
let AdminResponseBody::EnvList(entries) = body else {
    anyhow::bail!("unexpected response from kernel: {body:?} (CLI/daemon version mismatch?)");
};
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Type guard

fn is_env_list(body: &AdminResponseBody) -> bool { matches!(body, AdminResponseBody::EnvList(_)) }

Try / catch

let body = crate::admin_client::into_result(body)?;
let AdminResponseBody::EnvList(entries) = body else {
    eprintln!("kernel replied with an unexpected body; is the daemon up to date?");
    bail!("unexpected response from kernel: {body:?}");
};

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Running `astrid secret list` when the kernel answers EnvList with a different AdminResponseBody variant — daemon/CLI version skew, a proxy answering on the admin socket, or a kernel that routes the request to a handler returning Success/Error instead.

Common situations: Daemon updated with a changed EnvList response shape while the CLI is stale; connecting to the wrong admin endpoint; middleware or tests returning a mock body of the wrong variant.

Understand the failure class

Background: "invalid response format", "malformed payload", "missing data field": when an API returns 200 but the response shape is wrong — this error's family across 23 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of astrid-runtime/astrid@affd8760f4 (2026-09-09). Data as JSON: /api/errors/aa360dd66142905d. Report an issue: GitHub.