BUG-HUNT: [error-handling] Catch-and-ignore pattern in `list_personas` #2406

New issue

Open

opened 2026-04-03 17:35:01 +00:00 by freemo · 1 comment

freemo commented

2026-04-03 17:35:01 +00:00

Owner

Metadata

Branch: fix/v3.6.0-list-personas-catch-and-ignore
Commit Message: fix(persona): surface invalid persona file errors to the user instead of silently ignoring them
Milestone: v3.6.0
Parent Epic: #868

Background and context

The PersonaRegistry.list_personas method in src/cleveragents/tui/persona/registry.py (lines 112–113) catches pydantic.ValidationError and yaml.YAMLError exceptions, logs a warning, and silently continues. This violates the project's fail-fast / no-error-suppression architectural principle (CONTRIBUTING.md §Error and Exception Handling): exceptions must only be caught when there is a meaningful recovery path, and must never be caught merely to be logged.

When a user creates a persona file with a YAML syntax error or a Pydantic validation error, the persona is silently dropped from the list. The user receives no in-app feedback and must know to inspect the log file to discover the problem.

Current behavior (for bugs)

Invalid persona files are silently ignored. A WARNING is emitted to the log file via _logger.warning(...), but no feedback is surfaced in the TUI. The user sees a shorter persona list with no explanation.

# src/cleveragents/tui/persona/registry.py  lines 112-113
except (yaml.YAMLError, ValidationError) as exc:
    _logger.warning("Skipping invalid persona file %s: %s", file, exc)

Expected behavior

The application must surface invalid-persona-file errors to the user through the TUI. Acceptable approaches include:

Collecting all parse/validation failures and exposing them via a "health check" or "status" view in the persona management UI.
Raising a custom, typed exception (e.g., InvalidPersonaFileError) that propagates to the top-level TUI error handler and is rendered as a visible warning banner or modal.

Either way, the user must be able to see which file failed and why, without having to consult the log file.

Acceptance criteria

PersonaRegistry.list_personas no longer silently swallows yaml.YAMLError or pydantic.ValidationError.
Invalid persona files produce visible, actionable feedback in the TUI (error message includes file path and failure reason).
A custom exception type (e.g., InvalidPersonaFileError) is defined and used, or failures are collected and returned as a structured result alongside the valid persona list.
All existing Behave scenarios for PersonaRegistry continue to pass.
New Behave scenarios cover: (a) a single invalid file among valid ones, (b) all files invalid, (c) mixed YAML and Pydantic errors.
nox -e typecheck passes with no suppressions.
nox -e coverage_report reports ≥ 97%.

Subtasks

Audit PersonaRegistry.list_personas and identify all catch-and-ignore sites.
Define a InvalidPersonaFileError (or equivalent) custom exception in the appropriate module.
Refactor list_personas to collect failures and either raise or return them alongside valid results.
Update the TUI persona list view to display a warning/error indicator for invalid files.
Tests (Behave): Add scenarios for invalid YAML persona file, invalid Pydantic schema, and mixed-error cases.
Tests (Robot): Add integration test for TUI displaying invalid-persona warning.
Verify coverage ≥ 97% via nox -s coverage_report.
Run nox (all default sessions), fix any errors.

Definition of Done

This issue is complete when:

All subtasks above are completed and checked off.
A Git commit is created where the first line of the commit message matches the Commit Message in Metadata exactly, followed by a blank line, then additional lines providing relevant details about the implementation.
The commit is pushed to the remote on the branch matching the Branch in Metadata exactly.
The commit is submitted as a pull request to master, reviewed, and merged before this issue is marked done.
All nox stages pass.
Coverage >= 97%.

Automated by CleverAgents Bot
Supervisor: Bug Hunting | Agent: ca-new-issue-creator

## Metadata - **Branch**: `fix/v3.6.0-list-personas-catch-and-ignore` - **Commit Message**: `fix(persona): surface invalid persona file errors to the user instead of silently ignoring them` - **Milestone**: v3.6.0 - **Parent Epic**: #868 ## Background and context The `PersonaRegistry.list_personas` method in `src/cleveragents/tui/persona/registry.py` (lines 112–113) catches `pydantic.ValidationError` and `yaml.YAMLError` exceptions, logs a warning, and silently continues. This violates the project's **fail-fast / no-error-suppression** architectural principle (CONTRIBUTING.md §Error and Exception Handling): exceptions must only be caught when there is a meaningful recovery path, and must never be caught merely to be logged. When a user creates a persona file with a YAML syntax error or a Pydantic validation error, the persona is silently dropped from the list. The user receives no in-app feedback and must know to inspect the log file to discover the problem. ## Current behavior (for bugs) Invalid persona files are silently ignored. A `WARNING` is emitted to the log file via `_logger.warning(...)`, but no feedback is surfaced in the TUI. The user sees a shorter persona list with no explanation. ```python # src/cleveragents/tui/persona/registry.py lines 112-113 except (yaml.YAMLError, ValidationError) as exc: _logger.warning("Skipping invalid persona file %s: %s", file, exc) ``` ## Expected behavior The application must surface invalid-persona-file errors to the user through the TUI. Acceptable approaches include: 1. Collecting all parse/validation failures and exposing them via a "health check" or "status" view in the persona management UI. 2. Raising a custom, typed exception (e.g., `InvalidPersonaFileError`) that propagates to the top-level TUI error handler and is rendered as a visible warning banner or modal. Either way, the user must be able to see *which* file failed and *why*, without having to consult the log file. ## Acceptance criteria - [ ] `PersonaRegistry.list_personas` no longer silently swallows `yaml.YAMLError` or `pydantic.ValidationError`. - [ ] Invalid persona files produce visible, actionable feedback in the TUI (error message includes file path and failure reason). - [ ] A custom exception type (e.g., `InvalidPersonaFileError`) is defined and used, or failures are collected and returned as a structured result alongside the valid persona list. - [ ] All existing Behave scenarios for `PersonaRegistry` continue to pass. - [ ] New Behave scenarios cover: (a) a single invalid file among valid ones, (b) all files invalid, (c) mixed YAML and Pydantic errors. - [ ] `nox -e typecheck` passes with no suppressions. - [ ] `nox -e coverage_report` reports ≥ 97%. ## Subtasks - [ ] Audit `PersonaRegistry.list_personas` and identify all catch-and-ignore sites. - [ ] Define a `InvalidPersonaFileError` (or equivalent) custom exception in the appropriate module. - [ ] Refactor `list_personas` to collect failures and either raise or return them alongside valid results. - [ ] Update the TUI persona list view to display a warning/error indicator for invalid files. - [ ] Tests (Behave): Add scenarios for invalid YAML persona file, invalid Pydantic schema, and mixed-error cases. - [ ] Tests (Robot): Add integration test for TUI displaying invalid-persona warning. - [ ] Verify coverage ≥ 97% via `nox -s coverage_report`. - [ ] Run `nox` (all default sessions), fix any errors. ## Definition of Done This issue is complete when: - All subtasks above are completed and checked off. - A Git commit is created where the **first line** of the commit message matches the Commit Message in Metadata exactly, followed by a blank line, then additional lines providing relevant details about the implementation. - The commit is pushed to the remote on the branch matching the **Branch** in Metadata exactly. - The commit is submitted as a **pull request** to `master`, reviewed, and **merged** before this issue is marked done. - All nox stages pass. - Coverage >= 97%. --- **Automated by CleverAgents Bot** Supervisor: Bug Hunting | Agent: ca-new-issue-creator

freemo added this to the v3.6.0 milestone

2026-04-03 17:35:10 +00:00

freemo added a new dependency

2026-04-03 17:35:41 +00:00

#868 Epic: TUI Interface, Modals and Persona System

freemo commented

2026-04-03 18:26:04 +00:00

Author

Owner

Issue triaged by project owner:

State: Verified
Priority: Low — Catch-and-ignore pattern in list_personas suppresses errors. This violates the project's error handling rules but is low-impact.
Milestone: v3.6.0
MoSCoW: Could Have — Error suppression is bad practice but the persona listing feature works. Defensive improvement.

Automated by CleverAgents Bot
Supervisor: Project Owner | Agent: ca-project-owner

Issue triaged by project owner: - **State**: Verified - **Priority**: Low — Catch-and-ignore pattern in `list_personas` suppresses errors. This violates the project's error handling rules but is low-impact. - **Milestone**: v3.6.0 - **MoSCoW**: Could Have — Error suppression is bad practice but the persona listing feature works. Defensive improvement. --- **Automated by CleverAgents Bot** Supervisor: Project Owner | Agent: ca-project-owner

freemo added the

MoSCoW

Could have

label

2026-04-03 18:26:35 +00:00

freemo removed the

MoSCoW

Could have

label

2026-04-05 04:09:33 +00:00