deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness · error · Error

Ralph workflow returned a malformed terminal result

Error message

Ralph workflow returned a malformed terminal result

What it means

Error "Ralph workflow returned a malformed terminal result" thrown in deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness.

Source

Thrown at packages/workflow/tool-ralph/src/index.ts:289

  }
  if (expectedStatus === 'blocked' && !normalizedText(report.blocker)) {
    throw new Error('Ralph workflow returned an invalid blocked report')
  }
  const chars = JSON.stringify(report).length
  if (chars > maxChars) {
    throw new Error(`Ralph workflow returned an oversized handoff (${chars} > ${maxChars})`)
  }
  return report
}

/** Defensively decode the fixed script's terminal value. */
function readRunResult(value: unknown, maxRounds: number, maxHandoffChars: number): RalphTerminalResult {
  if (!isRecord(value)
    || typeof value['roundsStarted'] !== 'number'
    || !Number.isSafeInteger(value['roundsStarted'])
    || value['roundsStarted'] < 1
    || value['roundsStarted'] > maxRounds) {
    throw new Error('Ralph workflow returned a malformed terminal result')
  }
  const roundsStarted = value['roundsStarted']
  switch (value['status']) {
    case 'complete':
      if (Object.keys(value).sort().join(',') !== 'report,roundsStarted,status') {
        throw new Error('Ralph workflow returned a malformed terminal result')
      }
      return { status: 'complete', roundsStarted, report: readReport(value['report'], 'complete', maxHandoffChars) }
    case 'blocked':
      if (Object.keys(value).sort().join(',') !== 'report,roundsStarted,status') {
        throw new Error('Ralph workflow returned a malformed terminal result')
      }
      return { status: 'blocked', roundsStarted, report: readReport(value['report'], 'blocked', maxHandoffChars) }
    case 'budget-limited':
      if (Object.keys(value).sort().join(',') !== 'report,roundsStarted,status') {
        throw new Error('Ralph workflow returned a malformed terminal result')
      }
      if (roundsStarted !== maxRounds) {

View on GitHub (pinned to b150a551b8)

Solutions

1. Fix the Ralph workflow's terminal result so it matches the expected status/result contract; inspect the returned value in the session log.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at packages/workflow/tool-ralph/src/index.ts:289 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

Understand the failure class

• Parsing and encoding errors: unexpected token, malformed input — why parsers reject input and how to find the real culprit.

AI-assisted analysis of deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness@b150a551b8 (2026-08-24). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6753d80ec180065d. Report an issue: GitHub.