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[Bug]: Invalid suspension logs a WARN and returns a PENDING result that the service rejects #753
Description
Expected Behavior
When the SDK suspends with no pending operation, it returns an output that the service rejects. The SDK should report this state as an SDK error. The error should name the operations that the suspended threads were waiting for.
The invocation should stay retryable. The race in #370 reached this state, and the execution still succeeded on a later invocation.
Actual Behavior
ExecutionManagercallspreSuspendCheck()before it suspends. It does so inderegisterActiveThreadand infinishCheckpointProcessing.preSuspendCheck()looks for a pending operation: aSTEPinPENDING, aWAITorCALLBACKinSTARTED, or aCHAINED_INVOKEinPENDINGorSTARTED.- If it finds none, it logs one WARN line:
Invalid suspension. No operation is pending. The line does not name an operation or a thread. - The SDK then suspends and returns
Status: PENDINGwith no error. The Lambda invocation succeeds, because the handler returns normally. - The service rejects the output with
InvalidParameterValueException: Cannot return PENDING status with no pending operations. - If the cause is deterministic, every replay reaches the same state. The execution fails, and
GetDurableExecutionreportsStatus: FAILEDwith that error.
The customer sees Lambda invocations that succeed, one WARN line per invocation, and a failed execution. None of these names the operation or the SDK defect that caused the failure.
Steps to Reproduce
-
Run case 1 from [Bug]: get() on a SKIPPED parallel branch never returns, and the execution fails #752 with
LocalDurableTestRunner. That handler runs afirstSuccessful()parallel withmaxConcurrency(1), then callsget()on the skipped second branch. -
Each invocation returns status
PENDINGwith no error. No operation is pending. -
Each invocation logs:
WARN software.amazon.lambda.durable.execution.ExecutionManager - Invalid suspension. No operation is pending -
LocalDurableTestRunner.runUntilCompletereturnsPENDING. It does not report that the service would reject the output.
SDK Version
2.2.1. Reproduced on main at ef88276 (2.2.2-SNAPSHOT).
Java Version
21
Is this a regression?
Unknown
Additional Context
Three SDK defects have reached this state. Each ended with the service error above.
- [Bug]: failed tests due to unexpected PENDING status #370: a race between checkpoint completion and a waiting thread. Fixed in fix: prevent invalid PENDING suspension after checkpoint completion #659.
- [Bug]: Parallel allCompleted can combine a stale branch count with joined state #736: a race in
allCompleted()branch registration. Fixed in Fix allCompleted parallel branch registration race #737. - [Bug]: get() on a SKIPPED parallel branch never returns, and the execution fails #752:
get()on aSKIPPEDparallel branch. Open.
A fix needs to handle three things.
- Keep the retry. A transient race can clear on a later invocation, as in [Bug]: failed tests due to unexpected PENDING status #370.
DurableExecutoralready rethrows a retryableUnrecoverableDurableExecutionException. Its comment says this is to "let the backend retry the invocation". An error on that path could keep the retry and name the cause. - Allow the no-token path. [Feature]: Exit gracefully with PENDING when a checkpoint response has no CheckpointToken #706 proposes a
PENDINGreturn when a checkpoint response has no token. That path abandons in-flight operations, so the state can hold no pending operation. A stricter check must not reject that return. - Report it in local tests.
LocalDurableTestRunnerreturnsPENDINGfor this output. It could report the output as invalid, so that a local test shows the outcome the service produces.
A smaller change keeps the current behavior and logs at ERROR with the ID and name of the awaited operation.
Activity
Harini410 commentedon Oct 13, 2026
I've submitted PR #785 to address this issue. It includes the fix and regression tests, and the full Maven test suite passes. I'd appreciate any feedback. Thank you!