hyperledger/fabric · error

error marshaling ProposalResponse

Error message

error marshaling ProposalResponse

What it means

This is the wrapped error from proto.Marshal inside GetBytesProposalResponse for a non-nil ProposalResponse whose serialization failed. errors.Wrap adds the 'error marshaling ProposalResponse' context to the underlying proto error.

Source

Thrown at protoutil/proputils.go:177

}

// GetBytesChaincodeActionPayload get the bytes of ChaincodeActionPayload from
// the message
func GetBytesChaincodeActionPayload(cap *peer.ChaincodeActionPayload) ([]byte, error) {
	if cap == nil {
		return nil, errors.New("error marshaling ChaincodeActionPayload: proto: Marshal called with nil")
	}
	capBytes, err := proto.Marshal(cap)
	return capBytes, errors.Wrap(err, "error marshaling ChaincodeActionPayload")
}

// GetBytesProposalResponse gets proposal bytes response
func GetBytesProposalResponse(pr *peer.ProposalResponse) ([]byte, error) {
	if pr == nil {
		return nil, errors.New("error marshaling ProposalResponse: proto: Marshal called with nil")
	}
	respBytes, err := proto.Marshal(pr)
	return respBytes, errors.Wrap(err, "error marshaling ProposalResponse")
}

// GetBytesHeader get the bytes of Header from the message
func GetBytesHeader(hdr *common.Header) ([]byte, error) {
	if hdr == nil {
		return nil, errors.New("error marshaling Header: proto: Marshal called with nil")
	}
	bytes, err := proto.Marshal(hdr)
	return bytes, errors.Wrap(err, "error marshaling Header")
}

// GetBytesSignatureHeader get the bytes of SignatureHeader from the message
func GetBytesSignatureHeader(hdr *common.SignatureHeader) ([]byte, error) {
	if hdr == nil {
		return nil, errors.New("error marshaling SignatureHeader: proto: Marshal called with nil")
	}
	bytes, err := proto.Marshal(hdr)
	return bytes, errors.Wrap(err, "error marshaling SignatureHeader")

View on GitHub (pinned to 2736b63f8f)

Solutions

1. Inspect errors.Cause(err) for the actual proto failure.
2. Pin consistent versions of fabric-protos-go and the proto runtime; rebuild.
3. Rebuild the ProposalResponse via the generated constructors/API rather than manual decoding.
4. If the pointer was actually nil, add the nil guard from the 'Marshal called with nil' variant.

Example fix

// before
prBytes, err := protoutil.GetBytesProposalResponse(pr)
if err != nil {
    return err
}
// after
prBytes, err := protoutil.GetBytesProposalResponse(pr)
if err != nil {
    return errors.Wrap(errors.Cause(err), "cannot serialize ProposalResponse")
}

if pr == nil {
    return nil, errors.New("ProposalResponse is nil")
}

func isSerializableProposalResponse(pr *peer.ProposalResponse) bool {
    return pr != nil
}

prBytes, err := protoutil.GetBytesProposalResponse(pr)
if err != nil {
    return nil, errors.Wrap(errors.Cause(err), "ProposalResponse serialization failed")
}

When it happens

Trigger: proto.Marshal returning an error on a populated *peer.ProposalResponse — most often a codegen/runtime mismatch or a struct populated via reflection/decoding of invalid bytes.

Common situations: Dependency upgrades leaving fabric-protos-go and gogo/protobuf inconsistent, or ProposalResponses reconstructed from raw network bytes of unknown validity.

Related errors

• error marshaling Response
• error marshaling ChaincodeEvent
• error marshaling ChaincodeActionPayload
• error marshaling ProposalResponse: proto: Marshal called wit
• error marshaling Header

AI-assisted analysis of hyperledger/fabric@2736b63f8f (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/07f0cb81599dc9b9. Report an issue: GitHub.