4.15.0: Application Error is returning Internal Server Error instead of actual error.

[gregg-cbs]

Bug report

Required System information

• Node.js version: 18.16.0
• NPM version: 9.5.1
• Strapi version: 4.15.0
• Operating system: Windows and Mac
• Is your project Javascript or Typescript: TS

Describe the bug

When throwing throw new ApplicationError in a controller or service strapi is returning "Internal Server Error" instead of the application error. This was not always the case although we have once seen this before due to a node version.

Now all of a sudden it is happening again on two different devices and we are not sure if some dependency has updated.

Steps to reproduce the behavior

1. Controller throws 'throw new ApplicationError("You do not have permissions to do this")
2. Rest api querying said controller is receiving "Internal Server Error" instead of the application error

Expected behavior

This behaviour has been before but we got rid of it by changing to node 18. Now it is happening again since we had an issue with strapi auto bumping to the next version and we downgraded back to 4.15.0.

Screenshots

Query:

Controller:

[gregg-cbs]

Some help here would be great. We are launching our product tomorrow and all errors are coming back as Internal Server Error. Any ideas we can try out today?

[ProfXponent]

We are also experiencing this issue and it is causing unexpected behavior in our auth flow.

There is no mention of it in the migration guide so I believe it is a bug.

https://docs.strapi.io/dev-docs/migration/v4/migration-guide-4.14.0-to-4.15.5

@gregg-cbs have you confirmed that it was introduced in 4.15.0?

4.16.0 mentions that they changed the middleware order for loggers / errors which seems like it could be responsible for something like this.

next step for me is to pull 4.15.0 and run a git bisect to try to pin down the exact commit, but ideally a dev would weigh in before that and let us know if it was intended or not because we are on 4.20.x now...

[gregg-cbs]

@ProfXponent -> to begin with on 4.15.0 this was not an issue for me but it was an issue for my colleague who was running a node version higher then i was. Upon downgrading to my version (18.16.0) it solved the issue for him.

But now after removing strapi 4.15.0 and reinstalling 4.15.0 again this has become an issue for both of us and we are on the same node version from when it was working.

I think this highlights the fragility of Strapis dependencies and what happens when they dont lock dependency versions - im not sure.

I looked into my package-lock.json and noticed "http-errors" package is included multiple times with multiple different versions depending no whether its used in Koa, Strapi and other places. Even Koa uses multiple versions of it.

Seems like a mess. Im not sure how to trace this issue.

[gregg-cbs]

@ProfXponent -> what node version are you on? Documentation says:
"Only Active LTS or Maintenance LTS versions are supported (currently v18 and v20). Odd-number releases of Node, known as "current" versions of Node.js, are not supported (e.g. v19, v21)."

[gregg-cbs]

I upgraded to 4.20.4 and this issue is resolved. I am using node 18.6.0.

[ProfXponent]

we are still seeing the error on strapi@4.20.3 & node@18.19.1

i will upgrade later and confirm whether or not it is present on 4.20.4

[gregg-cbs]

Yeah this can be very frustrating. Just make sure to delete node_modules after bumping up to 4.20.4.

1. Change version in package.json file
2. Delete node_modules folder
3. npm i
4. npm run build
5. npm run dev

[ProfXponent]

@gregg-cbs strapi@4.20.4 doesn't even build for us

we run strapi in a docker container and don't externally mount node_modules so its a fresh install every time package.json changes.

getting the following error after upgrading to strapi@4.20.4

cms        | [ERROR] Module not found: Error: Can't resolve '@strapi/design-system/Box' in '/opt/app/node_modules/@strapi/plugin-seo/admin/src/components/CMEditView/RightLinksCompo'

starting with strapi develop --debug yields

cms  | 
cms  | > cms@0.1.0 develop
cms  | > strapi develop --debug
cms  | 
cms  | [DEBUG] Loaded package.json: 
cms  |  {
cms  |   name: 'cms',
cms  |   version: '0.1.0',
cms  |   description: 'A Strapi application',
cms  |   scripts: {
cms  |     develop: 'strapi develop --debug',
cms  |     start: 'strapi start',
cms  |     build: 'strapi build',
cms  |     strapi: 'strapi',
cms  |     import: 'strapi import --file ./seeds/seed-data.tar.gz',
cms  |     export: 'strapi export --no-encrypt --file ./exports/export'
cms  |   },
cms  |   dependencies: {
cms  |     '@strapi/plugin-documentation': '4.20.4',
cms  |     '@strapi/plugin-i18n': '4.20.4',
cms  |     '@strapi/plugin-seo': '1.9.8',
cms  |     '@strapi/plugin-users-permissions': '4.20.4',
cms  |     '@strapi/provider-email-sendgrid': '4.20.4',
cms  |     '@strapi/strapi': '4.20.4',
cms  |     react: '18.2.0',
cms  |     'react-dom': '18.2.0',
cms  |     'react-router-dom': '5.3.4',
cms  |     'styled-components': '5.3.11',
cms  |     'better-sqlite3': '9.4.3'
cms  |   },
cms  |   strapi: { uuid: '42b937aa-0f16-4a30-bb55-95f60ec03b48' },
cms  |   engines: { node: '>=14.19.1 <=18.x.x', npm: '>=6.0.0' },
cms  |   readme: 'ERROR: No README data found!',
cms  |   _id: 'cms@0.1.0'
cms  | }
cms  | 
cms  | - Building build context
cms  | [INFO] Including the following ENV variables as part of the JS bundle:
cms  |     - ADMIN_PATH
cms  |     - STRAPI_ADMIN_BACKEND_URL
cms  |     - STRAPI_TELEMETRY_DISABLED
cms  | [DEBUG] Cleaning dist folder: /opt/app/build
cms  | [DEBUG] Cleaned dist folder
cms  | [DEBUG] Dependencies from user's project 
cms  |  {
cms  |   '@strapi/plugin-documentation': '4.20.4',
cms  |   '@strapi/plugin-i18n': '4.20.4',
cms  |   '@strapi/plugin-seo': '1.9.8',
cms  |   '@strapi/plugin-users-permissions': '4.20.4',
cms  |   '@strapi/provider-email-sendgrid': '4.20.4',
cms  |   '@strapi/strapi': '4.20.4',
cms  |   react: '18.2.0',
cms  |   'react-dom': '18.2.0',
cms  |   'react-router-dom': '5.3.4',
cms  |   'styled-components': '5.3.11',
cms  |   'better-sqlite3': '9.4.3'
cms  | }
cms  | [DEBUG] User's plugins file 
cms  |  {
cms  |   seo: { enabled: true },
cms  |   email: {
cms  |     config: {
cms  |       provider: 'sendgrid',
cms  |       providerOptions: [Object],
cms  |       settings: [Object]
cms  |     }
cms  |   },
cms  |   documentation: {
cms  |     enabled: true,
cms  |     config: {
cms  |       openapi: '3.0.0',
cms  |       info: [Object],
cms  |       'x-strapi-config': [Object],
cms  |       servers: [Array],
cms  |       externalDocs: [Object],
cms  |       security: [Array]
cms  |     }
cms  |   }
cms  | }
cms  | [DEBUG] Enabled plugins 
cms  |  {
cms  |   documentation: {
cms  |     name: 'documentation',
cms  |     importName: 'documentation',
cms  |     type: 'module',
cms  |     modulePath: '@strapi/plugin-documentation'
cms  |   },
cms  |   i18n: {
cms  |     name: 'i18n',
cms  |     importName: 'i18N',
cms  |     type: 'module',
cms  |     modulePath: '@strapi/plugin-i18n'
cms  |   },
cms  |   seo: {
cms  |     name: 'seo',
cms  |     importName: 'seo',
cms  |     type: 'module',
cms  |     modulePath: '@strapi/plugin-seo'
cms  |   },
cms  |   'users-permissions': {
cms  |     name: 'users-permissions',
cms  |     importName: 'usersPermissions',
cms  |     type: 'module',
cms  |     modulePath: '@strapi/plugin-users-permissions'
cms  |   }
cms  | }
cms  | [DEBUG] Enabled plugins with FE 
cms  |  [
cms  |   {
cms  |     name: 'documentation',
cms  |     importName: 'documentation',
cms  |     type: 'module',
cms  |     modulePath: '@strapi/plugin-documentation/strapi-admin'
cms  |   },
cms  |   {
cms  |     name: 'i18n',
cms  |     importName: 'i18N',
cms  |     type: 'module',
cms  |     modulePath: '@strapi/plugin-i18n/strapi-admin'
cms  |   },
cms  |   {
cms  |     name: 'seo',
cms  |     importName: 'seo',
cms  |     type: 'module',
cms  |     modulePath: '@strapi/plugin-seo/strapi-admin'
cms  |   },
cms  |   {
cms  |     name: 'users-permissions',
cms  |     importName: 'usersPermissions',
cms  |     type: 'module',
cms  |     modulePath: '@strapi/plugin-users-permissions/strapi-admin'
cms  |   }
cms  | ]
cms  | ✔ Building build context (74ms)
cms  | - Creating admin
cms  | [DEBUG] Created the runtime directory
cms  | [DEBUG] Rendered the HTML
cms  | [DEBUG] Wrote the index.html file
cms  | [DEBUG] Wrote the app.js file
cms  | [DEBUG] Webpack config {
cms  |   experiments: { topLevelAwait: true },
cms  |   entry: { main: [ './.strapi/client/app.js' ] },
cms  |   resolve: {
cms  |     alias: {
cms  |       '@strapi/design-system$': '/opt/app/node_modules/@strapi/admin/node_modules/@strapi/design-system',
cms  |       '@strapi/helper-plugin$': '/opt/app/node_modules/@strapi/admin/node_modules/@strapi/helper-plugin',
cms  |       '@strapi/icons$': '/opt/app/node_modules/@strapi/admin/node_modules/@strapi/icons',
cms  |       'date-fns$': '/opt/app/node_modules/date-fns',
cms  |       'formik$': '/opt/app/node_modules/formik',
cms  |       'history$': '/opt/app/node_modules/history',
cms  |       'immer$': '/opt/app/node_modules/immer',
cms  |       'qs$': '/opt/app/node_modules/qs',
cms  |       'lodash$': '/opt/app/node_modules/lodash',
cms  |       'react$': '/opt/app/node_modules/react',
cms  |       'react-dnd$': '/opt/app/node_modules/react-dnd',
cms  |       'react-dnd-html5-backend$': '/opt/app/node_modules/react-dnd-html5-backend',
cms  |       'react-dom$': '/opt/app/node_modules/react-dom',
cms  |       'react-error-boundary$': '/opt/app/node_modules/react-error-boundary',
cms  |       'react-helmet$': '/opt/app/node_modules/react-helmet',
cms  |       'react-is$': '/opt/app/node_modules/react-is',
cms  |       'react-intl$': '/opt/app/node_modules/react-intl',
cms  |       'react-query$': '/opt/app/node_modules/react-query',
cms  |       'react-redux$': '/opt/app/node_modules/react-redux',
cms  |       'react-router-dom$': '/opt/app/node_modules/react-router-dom',
cms  |       'react-window$': '/opt/app/node_modules/react-window',
cms  |       'react-select$': '/opt/app/node_modules/react-select',
cms  |       'redux$': '/opt/app/node_modules/redux',
cms  |       'reselect$': '/opt/app/node_modules/reselect',
cms  |       'styled-components$': '/opt/app/node_modules/styled-components',
cms  |       'yup$': '/opt/app/node_modules/yup'
cms  |     },
cms  |     extensions: [ '.js', '.jsx', '.react.js', '.ts', '.tsx' ]
cms  |   },
cms  |   module: {
cms  |     rules: [
cms  |       [Object], [Object],
cms  |       [Object], [Object],
cms  |       [Object], [Object],
cms  |       [Object]
cms  |     ]
cms  |   },
cms  |   plugins: [
cms  |     HtmlWebpackPlugin {
cms  |       userOptions: [Object],
cms  |       version: 5,
cms  |       options: [Object]
cms  |     },
cms  |     DefinePlugin { definitions: [Object] },
cms  |     MiniCssExtractPlugin {
cms  |       _sortedModulesCache: [WeakMap],
cms  |       options: [Object],
cms  |       runtimeOptions: [Object]
cms  |     }
cms  |   ],
cms  |   stats: 'errors-only',
cms  |   mode: 'production',
cms  |   bail: true,
cms  |   devtool: false,
cms  |   output: {
cms  |     path: '/opt/app/build',
cms  |     publicPath: '/admin/',
cms  |     filename: '[name].[contenthash:8].js',
cms  |     chunkFilename: '[name].[contenthash:8].chunk.js'
cms  |   },
cms  |   optimization: {
cms  |     minimize: undefined,
cms  |     minimizer: [ [ESBuildMinifyPlugin] ],
cms  |     moduleIds: 'deterministic',
cms  |     runtimeChunk: true
cms  |   }
cms  | }
cms  | [ERROR] Module not found: Error: Can't resolve '@strapi/icons/Search' in '/opt/app/node_modules/@strapi/plugin-seo/admin/src/components/PluginIcon'
cms  | [ERROR]  There seems to be an unexpected error, try again with --debug for more information 

I'm including my Dockerfile, package.json, and package-lock.json if anyone wants to replicate this.

Already cleared my image cache and rebuild from scratch a few times.

Below is a docker-compose.yaml snippet you can use with the included Dockerfile

ARG NODE_VERSION
FROM node:${NODE_VERSION}
RUN mkdir -p /opt/app
RUN chown -R node:node /opt/app
# Installing libvips-dev for sharp Compatibility
RUN apk update && apk add curl bash build-base gcc autoconf automake zlib-dev libpng-dev nasm bash vips-dev

USER node

WORKDIR /opt/app
ARG NODE_ENV
ENV NODE_ENV=${NODE_ENV}
COPY --chown=node:node package.json package-lock.json ./
RUN npm install
ENV PATH /opt/app/node_modules/.bin:$PATH
COPY --chown=node:node config ./config
COPY --chown=node:node database ./database
COPY --chown=node:node public ./public
COPY --chown=node:node src ./src
COPY --chown=node:node favicon.png ./favicon.png

CMD ["npm", "run", "develop"]

services:
  strapi-cms:
    container_name: strapi-cms
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
      args:
        NODE_VERSION: 18-alpine3.19
        NODE_ENV: development
    logging:
      driver: json-file
      options:
        max-size: 10m
        max-file: 10
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      HOST: 0.0.0.0
      PORT: 1337
      DATABASE_CLIENT: sqlite
      DATABASE_FILENAME: database/data.db
      DATABASE_HOST: db
      JWT_SECRET: aaa
      ADMIN_JWT_SECRET: bbb
      SENDGRID_API_KEY: ccc
      SENDGRID_SENDER_EMAIL: ddd
      APP_KEYS: eee,fff,ggg,hhh
      API_TOKEN_SALT: iii
      TRANSFER_TOKEN_SALT: jjj
      WEB_URL: http://web-container:3000
      CMS_URL: http://strapi-cms:1337
    volumes:
      - ./config:/opt/app/config
      - ./database:/opt/app/database
      - ./public:/opt/app/public
      - ./src:/opt/app/src
      - ./favicon.png:/opt/app/favicon.png
      - ./seeds:/opt/app/seeds:ro
      - ./exports:/opt/app/exports
      - ./package.json:/opt/app/package.json
      - ./package-lock.json:/opt/app/package-lock.json

package-lock.json
package.json

[ProfXponent]

Ok, @gregg-cbs so after resolving the dependency issue above I can confirm that the error is present on strapi@4.20.3 and seems to be resolved on strapi@4.20.4.

I don't see any mention of it in the release notes so I'm not sure if it was an actual bug fix or something that got resolved incidentally.

[Melly5]

had the same issue with strapi version 4.20.3, error was shown as internal error, but didn't appear in the UI Admin Panel

can confirm, that upgrading to 4.20.4 and following the gregg-cbs instructions fixed the problem (let's hope this is a longterm fix)

Yeah this can be very frustrating. Just make sure to delete node_modules after bumping up to 4.20.4.

1. Change version in package.json file
2. Delete node_modules folder
3. npm i
4. npm run build
5. npm run dev

[strapi-bot]

This issue has been mentioned on Strapi Community Forum. There might be relevant details there:

https://forum.strapi.io/t/lifecycle-error-doesnt-appear-in-ui-only-as-internal-error/36597/2

[obafunmiso-olufemi]

had the same issue with strapi version 4.20.3, error was shown as internal error, but didn't appear in the UI Admin Panel

can confirm, that upgrading to 4.20.4 and following the gregg-cbs instructions fixed the problem (let's hope this is a longterm fix)

Yeah this can be very frustrating. Just make sure to delete node_modules after bumping up to 4.20.4.

1. Change version in package.json file
2. Delete node_modules folder
3. npm i
4. npm run build
5. npm run dev

I am still experiencing same issue even after doing the above

[gregg-cbs]

@obafunmiso-olufemi What is your node version?