deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness · error · Error

Ralph workflow returned an oversized handoff

Error message

Ralph workflow returned an oversized handoff (${chars} > ${maxChars})

What it means

Thrown while decoding the last handoff (report) from a Ralph workflow result. The concatenated handoff text exceeds maxHandoffChars, the configured cap that keeps a round report small enough to re-feed into the next round or session context. The workflow provider returned an oversized report and the consumer refuses to accept it rather than silently truncating; the fix is to make the workflow emit a shorter handoff or raise the configured limit.

Solutions

1. Reduce the serialized handoff below the limit, or raise maxHandoffChars in the Ralph configuration.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at packages/workflow/tool-ralph/src/index.ts:277 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness@b150a551b8 (2026-08-24). Data as JSON: /api/errors/15059ccfe36bdaa3. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at packages/workflow/tool-ralph/src/index.ts:277

    status: expectedStatus,
    summary: value['summary'],
    evidence: value['evidence'],
    nextSteps: value['nextSteps'],
    blocker: value['blocker'],
  }
  if (expectedStatus === 'continue' && (report.nextSteps.length === 0 || report.blocker !== '')) {
    throw new Error('Ralph workflow returned an invalid continuing report')
  }
  if (expectedStatus === 'complete'
    && (report.evidence.length === 0 || report.nextSteps.length !== 0 || report.blocker !== '')) {
    throw new Error('Ralph workflow returned an invalid completion report')
  }
  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')

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