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perf: avoid creating exceptions when no hook implements the error stage - #2057

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@toddbaert

@toddbaert toddbaert commented Oct 8, 2026 •

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Fixes #2056

  • NOT_READY/FATAL short-circuits no longer throw; error details returned directly (same impact, but cheaper)
  • executeErrorHooks now takes a Supplier<? extends Exception>; and only creates exceptions of a hook is watching
    • (meaning if an attached hook overrides error, checked once at hook addition time)
  • provider-returned errors (client and multi-provider) use the same lazy path

Evaluation results (errorCode, errorMessage, reason, value) and the exception types passed to error hooks are unchanged.

Note: Mockito's inline mock maker intercepts default methods on the interface itself, so mock(Hook.class) / spy(Hook.class) no longer counts as implementing error, and verifying error on such mocks will fail. I've updated HookFixtures to spy on implementations that override error. Since error is a no-op default, I don't consider this a breaking change, but it may affect some tests in the contribs.

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toddbaert requested review from a team as code owners October 8, 2026 15:38
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Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between a144300 and cfc0ee1.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)
  • src/main/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/HookSupport.java
🚧 Files skipped from review as they are similar to previous changes (1)
  • src/main/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/HookSupport.java

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📝 Walkthrough

Hook execution now detects whether registered compatible hooks implement the error stage and creates exceptions only when needed. Flag evaluation builds error details directly for NOT_READY and FATAL provider states. Other error paths pass exception suppliers to hook execution.

Changes: Error-hook execution

Layer / File(s) Summary
Hook detection and lazy dispatch
src/main/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/HookSupport.java, src/main/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/HookSupportData.java, src/test/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/HookSupportTest.java, src/test/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/fixtures/HookFixtures.java
HookSupport detects error-stage overrides and records whether compatible registered hooks implement that stage. It calls the exception supplier only when such a hook is present. Tests check supplier invocation, and hook fixtures explicitly override error.
Evaluation error handling
src/main/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/OpenFeatureClient.java, src/main/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/MultiProviderHookExecutor.java, src/test/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/OpenFeatureClientTest.java
OpenFeatureClient builds error details directly for NOT_READY and FATAL provider states. OpenFeatureClient and MultiProviderHookExecutor defer exception creation when invoking error hooks. Tests check the NOT_READY result and exception creation with and without an error hook.

Priority: ⬇️ Low

Estimated code review effort: 3 (Moderate) | ~20 minutes

Change: Bug fix

Merge Risk: ⚪ Minimal · up to cfc0e

The reported mixed-hook concern does not block this change. No actionable merge-blocking risk remains after normal checks.

Security architecture risk: 🔵 Low · up to a1443

Returned evaluation errors and provider short-circuiting remain unchanged. The remaining uncertainty concerns integrations that observe inherited error callbacks without overriding them; their downstream usage is not established.

Retained concerns
No architecture-level concerns identified.

Security review details

Security Blast Radius

  • inferred — The supported exposure is error-callback delivery across configured API, client, evaluation-option, and provider hooks, including child-provider evaluations using the shared dispatcher. This is an in-process extension-contract change, not evidence of a newly exposed remote entrypoint.

Trust Boundaries and Controls

  • observed — For overriding error hooks, provider error codes and messages still select exceptions through the unchanged mapping. Caught exceptions retain their original identity. Error-hook failures remain swallowed rather than becoming caller-visible failures.

Resilience and Maintainability Implications

  • observed — The error-hook flag belongs to a fresh per-evaluation data object and is calculated from that evaluation's filtered hooks. Shared cached state records only class-level override metadata; hook contexts receive separate data instances. Repeated evaluations therefore do not reuse the previous evaluation's error-hook decision.

Hardening Proposals

  • proposed — Make the lifecycle contract explicit about skipping inherited default error methods. Error-monitoring integrations should declare an error override rather than depend on interception of the empty default method. This is a compatibility safeguard, not an observed audit-control vulnerability.
Pre-merge checks · Passed 4 · Failed 1

Failed Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name Status Explanation Resolution
Docstring Coverage Warning Docstring coverage is 20.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 30 functions across 7 files. Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.
Passed Passed checks (4 passed)
Check name Status Explanation
Title check Passed The title clearly and concisely describes the primary performance change: avoiding exception creation when no hook implements the error stage.
Description check Passed The description directly explains the lazy exception creation, NOT_READY/FATAL handling, provider-returned errors, test updates, and compatibility considerations.
Linked Issues check Passed Issue #2056 requirements are met. OpenFeatureClient.evaluateFlag handles NOT_READY and FATAL with direct error details and no internal throw. shortCircuit preserves the error code, message, de…
Out of Scope Changes check Passed The changed production files implement the lazy error path, direct NOT_READY/FATAL handling, and provider-error handling required by issue #2056. The test and fixture changes verify these behavior…
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@codecov

codecov Bot commented Oct 8, 2026 •

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Codecov Report

❌ Patch coverage is 92.85714% with 3 lines in your changes missing coverage. Please review.
✅ Project coverage is 93.30%. Comparing base (034640b) to head (cfc0ee1).
⚠️ Report is 1 commits behind head on main.

Files with missing lines Patch % Lines
src/main/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/HookSupport.java 88.88% 2 Missing ⚠️
...in/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/OpenFeatureClient.java 94.73% 1 Missing ⚠️
Additional details and impacted files
@@             Coverage Diff              @@
##               main    #2057      +/-   ##
============================================
+ Coverage     92.87%   93.30%   +0.42%     
- Complexity      752      760       +8     
============================================
  Files            62       62              
  Lines          1810     1836      +26     
  Branches        208      210       +2     
============================================
+ Hits           1681     1713      +32     
+ Misses           77       73       -4     
+ Partials         52       50       -2     
Flag Coverage Δ
unittests 93.30% <92.85%> (+0.42%) ⬆️

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* synthetic errors created for the error hook method are only created lazily, if such error hooks exist

Signed-off-by: Todd Baert <todd.baert@dynatrace.com>
@toddbaert
toddbaert force-pushed the fix/no-throw-not-ready branch from 2f79b2b to a144300 Compare October 8, 2026 16:57

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Actionable comments posted: 1


  • 🪄 Fix CodeRabbit comments on this PR
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Inline comments:
Review comments at @src/main/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/HookSupport.java:
- Line 131: Update error-hook dispatch in HookSupport so each hook is invoked
only if it overrides error; do not use the aggregate hasErrorHooks flag to
dispatch to hooks that inherit the no-op default.

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📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 2f79b2b and a144300.

📒 Files selected for processing (7)
  • src/main/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/HookSupport.java
  • src/main/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/HookSupportData.java
  • src/main/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/MultiProviderHookExecutor.java
  • src/main/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/OpenFeatureClient.java
  • src/test/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/HookSupportTest.java
  • src/test/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/OpenFeatureClientTest.java
  • src/test/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/fixtures/HookFixtures.java

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Comment thread src/main/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/HookSupport.java
@aepfli

aepfli commented Oct 12, 2026

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I understand the motivation. and i see that this approach fixed the immediate path. but should we rather opt for an interface?

@toddbaert

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I understand the motivation. and i see that this approach fixed the immediate path. but should we rather opt for an interface?

I considered it, but that would be an opt-in (unless I misunderstand you) - which would silently stop calling error on existing hooks that override it (breaking), and opt-out gives no benefit until every hook (including contribs) adds it.

Reflection is backwards compatible and works immediately, and it's computed once per class. I'm open to adding an explicit interface later as an override if we want it, but IMO it shouldn't be required. It's a bit of an odd situation, but it seems that currently, using the SDK without a provider (noop) can cause very serious performance issues in some cases, because stack traces are re-introduced by various monitoring agents, which causes a stack trace collection for every eval.

Signed-off-by: Todd Baert <todd.baert@dynatrace.com>
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@aepfli

aepfli commented Oct 13, 2026

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I see, and for now this is fine.

But that also brings back the question for stabilizing the API, if exceptions are ether right containers for us, or if we should have an intermediate data object rather than utilizing exceptions.

attributes.put(key, new Value(value));
return new ImmutableContext(attributes);
}

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Is it worth testing setHooks with multiple hooks in the various hook collections, to verify the bitwise or assignment?

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perf: avoid creating exceptions when no hook implements the error stage

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