StackStorm/st2

Predictive error message when config hasn't been loaded

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#3435 opened on May 25, 2017

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Description

I've done support a few times now and one of the most common problems arises from the fact that someone has changed a pack config file but haven't reloaded it.

The error message that usually pops up is a KeyError, since the action or sensor will likely be looking up some key in the config that may not exist in the config stored in the database. However, for some packs, where the default configuration is provided with some dummy values, this may not always be the case

It may be worth putting some thought into how we can detect whether or not the configuration has been reloaded recently, and provide something useful to the user that indicates this is what they should do. At the very least, we should catch "common" exceptions like KeyError and provide this additional context before re-raising.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
python
Domain
backenddeveloper experience
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
Pythonfamiliarity with StackStorm config system
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
70
Research direction
Investigate the st2 configuration loading mechanism, likely in the st2common or st2api packages. Focus on the error handling when a KeyError is raised due to missing config keys. Implement a check to see if the config has been reloaded recently (e.g., by comparing timestamps) and include a hint in the error message. Also consider catching common exceptions like KeyError in relevant actions/sensors that rely on pack config.