Compute LRO exceptions drop structured operation error details

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Since Jul 29, 2026.

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Description

Description

When a Compute Engine long-running operation completes with status: DONE and an operation-level error, the Java client exception produced by OperationFuture.get() appears to keep only httpErrorStatusCode / httpErrorMessage in the exception message. Structured details under operation.error.errors[] are not included, which can discard the actionable provider error.

Example operation payload shape:

status: DONE
error.errors[0].code: INVALID_USAGE
error.errors[0].message: No attached disk found with device name '<deviceName>'
httpErrorStatusCode: 400
httpErrorMessage: BAD REQUEST

The thrown exception message becomes similar to:

com.google.api.gax.rpc.InvalidArgumentException: Operation with name "..." failed with status = HttpJsonStatusCode{statusCode=INVALID_ARGUMENT} and message = BAD REQUEST

The important detail INVALID_USAGE: No attached disk found with device name ... is not present in the exception message.

Why this matters

For Compute operations such as InstancesClient.detachDiskAsync(...).get(), BAD REQUEST / INVALID_ARGUMENT is too generic for operators and applications to distinguish idempotent conditions from real invalid input. The structured operation error contains the actionable reason, but it is not surfaced by the default exception path.

Code path observed

Current generated Compute client code seems to build the REST LRO snapshot from only the HTTP error status/message:

In gax, the response transformer creates the exception message from operationSnapshot.getErrorCode() and operationSnapshot.getErrorMessage() only:

HTTP 400 is then mapped to INVALID_ARGUMENT, and ApiExceptionFactory maps that to InvalidArgumentException:

Expected behavior

When the operation response contains structured error details, the thrown exception should expose or preserve them. For example, the exception message or an accessible error detail field should include something like:

INVALID_USAGE: No attached disk found with device name '<deviceName>'
Actual behavior

The default exception message only includes:

status = HttpJsonStatusCode{statusCode=INVALID_ARGUMENT} and message = BAD REQUEST
Possible fixes
  • Include Operation.error.errors[] in the generated Compute OperationSnapshot error message, where available.
  • Or preserve the original Compute Operation error details in the gax exception / ErrorDetails so callers can inspect them programmatically.
  • Or provide documented guidance for retrieving the full failed operation response after OperationFuture.get() throws.

If this belongs in googleapis/sdk-platform-java instead of this generated client repo, please redirect or transfer. The generated Compute client appears to be where the Compute-specific Operation.error.errors[] data is first collapsed into generic HTTP status/message.

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