What causes "Not sure how to process this inherited serializer" in stride3d/stride?

Inspect the serializer inheritance chain of the type and simplify it to a concrete DataSerializer

stride3d/stride · error · InvalidOperationException

Not sure how to process this inherited serializer

Error message

Not sure how to process this inherited serializer

What it means

FindInheritedSerializerInfo throws this when it cannot classify how an inherited serializer should be resolved: the type is neither a concrete serializer it could return nor a generic serializer it could process. It is an internal invariant check guarding the serializer-inheritance lookup.

Solutions

Inspect the serializer inheritance chain of the type and simplify it to a concrete DataSerializer
Make the serializer generic mode explicit via DataSerializerGenericMode on the serializer class
Register the serializer explicitly with [DataSerializer] on the data type instead of relying on inheritance
If in Stride source, extend FindInheritedSerializerInfo to handle the new inheritance shape

Example fix

// before
class MyListSerializer : DataSerializer<List<T>> {} // ambiguous inheritance
// after
[DataSerializerGenericMode(DataSerializerGenericMode.GenericArityAndArguments)]
class MyListSerializer<T> : DataSerializer<List<T>> {}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

// Prefer explicitly registered serializers over inherited resolution:
if (myType.GetCustomAttribute<DataSerializerAttribute>() == null &&
    typeof(DataSerializer).IsAssignableFrom(mySerializerType) == false)
    throw new InvalidOperationException("Register an explicit serializer for " + myType.Name);

Type guard

static bool IsConcreteSerializer(Type t) =>
    !t.IsAbstract && !t.ContainsGenericParameters && typeof(DataSerializer).IsAssignableFrom(t);

Try / catch

try { ProcessInheritedSerializer(type); }
catch (InvalidOperationException ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("Not sure how to process this inherited serializer"))
{
    logger.Warn($"Falling back to explicit serializer registration for {type}");
    RegisterExplicitSerializer(type);
}

Prevention

Avoid deep custom DataSerializer inheritance hierarchies
Prefer direct DataSerializer<T> derivation
Set DataSerializerGenericMode explicitly on generic serializers

When it happens

Trigger: FindSerializerInfo delegates to FindInheritedSerializerInfo for a base/interface serializer lookup and the resolved SerializableTypeInfo matches neither the concrete nor the generic branch.

Common situations: Custom DataSerializer hierarchies that inherit in ways the processor does not model (e.g. open generic base serializers combined in unexpected ways); version upgrades changing SerializableTypeInfo modes.

Understand the failure class

Background: "This is a bug, please report it": internal invariant violations, unreachable panics, and SNH errors explained — this error's family across 47 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of stride3d/stride@96fad776d2 (2026-09-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/90ba2ee9a24001de. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at sources/core/Stride.Core.AssemblyProcessor/Serializers/CecilSerializerContext.cs:384

            var genericInfo = new SerializableTypeInfo(parentInfo.SerializerType, true, parentInfo.Mode);
            AddSerializableType(type, genericInfo);

            if (!type.HasGenericParameters)
            {
                var genericArguments = parentType is GenericInstanceType git ? git.GenericArguments : [];
                var actualSerializerType = InstantiateSerializerType(parentInfo.SerializerType, parentInfo.Mode, type, genericArguments);

                var concreteInfo = new SerializableTypeInfo(actualSerializerType, true);
                AddSerializableType(type, concreteInfo);

                if (!generic)
                    return concreteInfo;
            }

            return genericInfo;
        }

        throw new InvalidOperationException("Not sure how to process this inherited serializer");
    }

    private (SerializableTypeInfo Info, SerializerDescriptor? Descriptor) CollectSerializer(TypeReference type)
    {
        var isLocal = type.Resolve().Module.Assembly == Assembly;

        // Create a forward TypeReference for the serializer (the actual TypeDefinition is created later during code generation).
        var className = SerializationHelpers.SerializerTypeName(type, false, true);
        if (type.HasGenericParameters)
            className += "`" + type.GenericParameters.Count;

        var dataSerializerType = new TypeReference("Stride.Core.DataSerializers", className, type.Module, isLocal ? Assembly.MainModule : type.Scope);

        var mode = DataSerializerGenericMode.None;
        if (type.HasGenericParameters)
        {
            mode = DataSerializerGenericMode.GenericArguments;

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