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Improve error message when a persisted cursor value cannot be parsed (ConcurrentPerPartitionCursor._set_global_state) #1120
Description
Problem
When a persisted cursor state value cannot be parsed with the stream's configured cursor_datetime_formats, ConcurrentPerPartitionCursor._set_global_state() lets the raw ValueError escape during stream construction. The sync dies before any record is read, and the user-facing failure is:
No format in ['%s', '%s'] matching 1698686995.0
Observed in production on a manifest-only source (source-slack, threads stream) where the stored global cursor value carried a fractional epoch ("1698686995.0") while the stream declares cursor_datetime_formats: ["%s"].
Why the current message is poor
- Leaks implementation details (
%sformat tokens, an internal Python list) with no user-meaningful vocabulary. - Does not say which stream, which cursor field, or that the value came from saved sync state.
- Offers no remediation (e.g. "refresh/clear the stream state").
- Classified as
system_error/failure_origin: source, so it looks like a connector crash rather than an unparseable-state condition. - Duplicate entries in the format list (
['%s', '%s']) becauseCustomFormatConcurrentStreamStateConverter.__init__appendsdatetime_formattoinput_datetime_formats, which makes the message look nonsensical.
Suggested improvements
- Wrap the failure in an
AirbyteTracedExceptionwith aconfig_error-style (non-system_error) failure type, naming the stream, the cursor field, the offending value, and the accepted formats, plus a remediation hint pointing at refreshing the stream's state. - Consider mirroring the tolerance already added for record cursor values in #758 (
observe()logs a warning and skips instead of raising) so a single unparseable state value degrades to a warning rather than failing the sync. - De-duplicate the formats reported in the message.
References
- Raise site:
airbyte_cdk/sources/streams/concurrent/state_converters/datetime_stream_state_converter.py(CustomFormatConcurrentStreamStateConverter.parse_timestamp) - Call path:
ConcurrentPerPartitionCursor._set_initial_state→_set_global_state→parse_value - Prior art for tolerant handling: fix: do not break on bad cursor value in perpartition cursor #758
- Originating oncall issue: https://github.com/airbytehq/oncall/issues/13342
Activity
octavia-bot commentedon Aug 18, 2026
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airbyte-support-bot commentedon Aug 18, 2026
Thank you for this detailed report!
This request — improving the error surfaced when a persisted cursor state value cannot be parsed (clearer wording, naming the stream/cursor field,
config_errorclassification, de-duplicated formats, and potentially tolerant handling mirroring #758) — has been logged as an enhancement for the CDK maintainers to review.In the meantime, if you hit this failure, resetting/clearing the affected stream's state and re-syncing typically resolves the immediate error.
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