fix: Allow for ValidationErrors to lead to failed events

Gemfile.lock

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 PATH
   remote: .
   specs:
-    journaled (6.2.7)
+    journaled (6.2.8)
       activejob
       activerecord
       activesupport

gemfiles/rails_7_2.gemfile.lock

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 PATH
   remote: ..
   specs:
-    journaled (6.2.7)
+    journaled (6.2.8)
       activejob
       activerecord
       activesupport

gemfiles/rails_8_0.gemfile.lock

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 PATH
   remote: ..
   specs:
-    journaled (6.2.7)
+    journaled (6.2.8)
       activejob
       activerecord
       activesupport

lib/journaled/kinesis_batch_sender.rb

@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@ class KinesisBatchSender
       'ValidationException',
     ].freeze
 
-    BATCH_TOO_LARGE_PATTERN = /too large/i
+    # Kinesis rejects any record whose data blob exceeds 1 MB.
+    KINESIS_MAX_RECORD_BYTES = 1_048_576
 
     # Send a batch of database events to Kinesis
     #
@@ -43,9 +44,7 @@ def send_stream_batch(stream_name, stream_events)
         response = kinesis_client.put_records(stream_name:, records:)
         process_response(response, stream_events)
       rescue Aws::Kinesis::Errors::ValidationException => e
-        raise unless e.message.match?(BATCH_TOO_LARGE_PATTERN)
-
-        handle_batch_too_large(stream_name, stream_events)
+        handle_validation_error(stream_name, stream_events, e.message)
       rescue StandardError => e
         # Handle transient errors (throttling, network issues, service unavailable)
         handle_transient_batch_error(e, stream_events)
@@ -94,24 +93,28 @@ def create_failed_event(event, error_code:, error_message:, transient:)
       )
     end
 
-    def handle_batch_too_large(stream_name, stream_events)
+    # Isolate the offending record(s) when Kinesis rejects the batch with a
+    # ValidationException (aggregate payload too large, per-record size limit,
+    # invalid partition key, etc.). Splits the batch in half and retries
+    # recursively until a single offending event is marked as a permanent failure.
+    def handle_validation_error(stream_name, stream_events, error_message)
       if stream_events.size <= 1
-        # Single event exceeds payload limit — treat as permanent failure
         return {
           succeeded: [],
           failed: stream_events.map do |event|
             create_failed_event(
               event,
               error_code: 'ValidationException',
-              error_message: 'Record exceeds Kinesis payload limit',
+              error_message:,
               transient: false,
             )
           end,
         }
       end
 
       Rails.logger.warn(
-        "[journaled] Batch too large for Kinesis (#{stream_events.size} events), splitting in half and retrying",
+        "[journaled] Kinesis ValidationException for batch of #{stream_events.size} events " \
+        "(#{error_message}), splitting in half and retrying",
       )
 
       mid = stream_events.size / 2

lib/journaled/outbox/adapter.rb

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ module Outbox
     # 4. Start workers: bundle exec rake journaled_worker:work
     class Adapter < Journaled::DeliveryAdapter
       class TableNotFoundError < StandardError; end
+      class RecordTooLargeError < StandardError; end
 
       # Delivers events by inserting them into the database
       #
@@ -29,6 +30,15 @@ def self.deliver(events:, **)
           # Exclude the application-level id - the database will generate its own using uuid_generate_v7()
           event_data = event.journaled_attributes.except(:id)
 
+          # The DB-generated id adds bytes to the JSON payload at send time, so a
+          # placeholder id keeps this estimate honest.
+          payload_bytesize = event_data.merge(id: SecureRandom.uuid).to_json.bytesize
+          if payload_bytesize > KinesisBatchSender::KINESIS_MAX_RECORD_BYTES
+            raise RecordTooLargeError, "Journaled event '#{event.journaled_attributes[:event_type]}' " \
+              "exceeds Kinesis #{KinesisBatchSender::KINESIS_MAX_RECORD_BYTES}-byte per-record limit " \
+              "(#{payload_bytesize} bytes); refusing to enqueue."
+          end
+
           {
             event_type: event.journaled_attributes[:event_type],
             event_data:,

lib/journaled/version.rb

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
 module Journaled
-  VERSION = "6.2.7"
+  VERSION = "6.2.8"
 end

spec/lib/journaled/kinesis_batch_sender_spec.rb

@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@
       it 'logs a warning about the split' do
         subject.send_batch(events)
 
-        expect(Rails.logger).to have_received(:warn).with(/Batch too large.*splitting in half/)
+        expect(Rails.logger).to have_received(:warn).with(/Kinesis ValidationException.*splitting in half/)
       end
     end
 
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@
           .and_raise(Aws::Kinesis::Errors::ValidationException.new(nil, 'Request Payload is too large'))
       end
 
-      it 'marks the event as a permanent failure' do
+      it 'marks the event as a permanent failure with the Kinesis error message' do
         result = subject.send_batch(events)
 
         expect(result[:succeeded]).to be_empty
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@
         failure = result[:failed].first
         expect(failure.event).to eq(event)
         expect(failure.error_code).to eq('ValidationException')
-        expect(failure.error_message).to eq('Record exceeds Kinesis payload limit')
+        expect(failure.error_message).to eq('Request Payload is too large')
         expect(failure.permanent?).to be true
       end
     end
@@ -202,17 +202,23 @@
       let(:event) { create_database_event }
       let(:events) { [event] }
 
-      context 'when entire batch fails with validation exception' do
+      context 'when entire batch fails with a non-payload ValidationException' do
         before do
           allow(kinesis_client).to receive(:put_records)
             .and_raise(Aws::Kinesis::Errors::ValidationException.new(nil, 'Invalid stream name'))
         end
 
-        it 'raises the exception (configuration error, not event data error)' do
-          expect { subject.send_batch(events) }.to raise_error(
-            Aws::Kinesis::Errors::ValidationException,
-            'Invalid stream name',
-          )
+        it 'isolates the offending event(s) as permanent failures with the original error message' do
+          result = subject.send_batch(events)
+
+          expect(result[:succeeded]).to be_empty
+          expect(result[:failed].length).to eq(1)
+
+          failure = result[:failed].first
+          expect(failure.event).to eq(event)
+          expect(failure.error_code).to eq('ValidationException')
+          expect(failure.error_message).to eq('Invalid stream name')
+          expect(failure.permanent?).to be true
         end
       end
 

spec/lib/journaled/outbox/adapter_spec.rb

@@ -136,6 +136,49 @@
           }.to change { Journaled::Outbox::Event.count }.by(2)
         end
       end
+
+      context 'when an event exceeds the Kinesis per-record size limit' do
+        let(:huge_payload) { 'x' * (Journaled::KinesisBatchSender::KINESIS_MAX_RECORD_BYTES + 1) }
+        let(:oversized_event) do
+          instance_double(
+            event_class,
+            id: SecureRandom.uuid,
+            journaled_attributes: {
+              id: 'big_id',
+              event_type: 'big_event',
+              payload: huge_payload,
+              created_at: Time.current,
+            },
+            journaled_partition_key: 'test_partition_key',
+            journaled_stream_name: 'test_stream',
+          )
+        end
+
+        context 'with a single oversized event' do
+          let(:events) { [oversized_event] }
+
+          it 'raises RecordTooLargeError and inserts nothing' do
+            expect {
+              described_class.deliver(events:, enqueue_opts:)
+            }.to raise_error(
+              Journaled::Outbox::Adapter::RecordTooLargeError,
+              /big_event.*exceeds Kinesis.*per-record limit/,
+            )
+            expect(Journaled::Outbox::Event.count).to eq(0)
+          end
+        end
+
+        context 'mixed with a normally-sized event' do
+          let(:events) { [event, oversized_event] }
+
+          it 'raises and inserts none of the events in the batch' do
+            expect {
+              described_class.deliver(events:, enqueue_opts:)
+            }.to raise_error(Journaled::Outbox::Adapter::RecordTooLargeError)
+            expect(Journaled::Outbox::Event.count).to eq(0)
+          end
+        end
+      end
     end
 
     context 'when tables do not exist' do