Failed to serialize workflow metadata: ${err.message}. Metad

Error message

Failed to serialize workflow metadata: ${err.message}. Metadata contains github_context which is required for this workflow.

What it means

Error "Failed to serialize workflow metadata: ${err.message}. Metadata contains github_context which is required for this workflow." thrown in coleam00/Archon.

Source

Thrown at packages/core/src/db/workflows.ts:391

  adopted_from_run_id?: string;
}): Promise<WorkflowRun> {
  // Serialize metadata with validation to catch circular references early
  let metadataJson: string;
  try {
    metadataJson = JSON.stringify(data.metadata ?? {});
  } catch (serializeError) {
    const err = serializeError as Error;

    // Check if metadata contains critical context that must not be silently lost
    if (data.metadata && 'github_context' in data.metadata) {
      // Critical context (e.g., GitHub issue/PR details) must not be silently discarded.
      // Failing here surfaces the problem to the user instead of running the workflow
      // with empty context variables ($CONTEXT, $EXTERNAL_CONTEXT, $ISSUE_CONTEXT).
      getLog().error(
        { err, metadataKeys: Object.keys(data.metadata) },
        'db.workflow_run_metadata_serialize_failed'
      );
      throw new Error(
        `Failed to serialize workflow metadata: ${err.message}. ` +
          'Metadata contains github_context which is required for this workflow.'
      );
    }

    // Non-critical metadata: fall back to empty object and log warning
    getLog().warn(
      { err, metadataKeys: data.metadata ? Object.keys(data.metadata) : [] },
      'db.workflow_run_metadata_serialize_fallback'
    );
    metadataJson = '{}';
  }

  try {
    const result = await pool.query<WorkflowRun>(
      data.id === undefined
        ? `INSERT INTO remote_agent_workflow_runs
       (workflow_name, conversation_id, codebase_id, user_message, metadata, working_path, parent_conversation_id, user_id, parent_run_id, adopted_from_run_id)

View on GitHub (pinned to 0773b97458)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at packages/core/src/db/workflows.ts:391 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of coleam00/Archon@0773b97458 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4bd9b1d646f8f2c0. Report an issue: GitHub.