instructure/canvas-lms · error · Translation::TranslationError

e.message

Error message

e.message

What it means

The fallback branch of handle_cedar_errors in lib/translation.rb:145: any Cedar exception not matching the known classes is re-raised as a generic TranslationError carrying the original e.message. It means the translation backend failed in an unexpected way not covered by the specific error mappings.

Solutions

1. Inspect the raised TranslationError message (it preserves e.message) to identify the true upstream cause
2. Check Cedar service status/credentials/network connectivity
3. Rescue TranslationError and implement a graceful fallback (return original text, retry later)
4. Update handle_cedar_errors with an explicit mapping if a new recurring upstream error class appears

Example fix

// before
result = Translation::Service.translate_text(text, from:, to:)
// after
begin
  result = Translation::Service.translate_text(text, from:, to:)
rescue TranslationError => e
  logger.warn("translation failed: #{e.message}")
  result = text
end

begin
  translate_text(text, from:, to:)
rescue TranslationError => e
  logger.error("translation failed: #{e.message}")
  text # graceful fallback to untranslated content
end

When it happens

Trigger: translate_text or translate_html encountering an upstream exception class outside {SameLanguageTranslationError, ContentTooLongError, UnsupportedLanguageError, ValidationError} — e.g. network/auth failures from the Cedar client, rate limiting, or new error types after a gem upgrade.

Common situations: Cedar service outage or timeout; expired/invalid credentials surfacing as an unmapped client exception; a new error class introduced upstream before this mapping was updated.

Related errors

• UnsupportedLanguageError
• ValidationError
• A new_id, '# ', referenced an existing # and the # with #…
• A new_integration_id, '#
• A student referenced a non-existent user #

AI-assisted analysis of instructure/canvas-lms@1c9f0bb801 (2026-09-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d45e49fbc74fd628. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at lib/translation.rb:145

    def collect_translation_stats(src_lang:, tgt_lang:, type:)
      tags = %W[type:#{type} source_language:#{src_lang} dest_language:#{tgt_lang}]
      InstStatsd::Statsd.distributed_increment("translation.invocations", tags:)
    end

    def handle_cedar_errors
      yield
    rescue => e
      case e.class.name
      when /SameLanguageTranslationError/
        raise SameLanguageTranslationError
      when /ContentTooLongError/
        raise TextTooLongError
      when /UnsupportedLanguageError/
        raise UnsupportedLanguageError
      when /ValidationError/
        raise ValidationError
      else
        raise TranslationError, e.message
      end
    end
  end
end

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