deeshantk opened a new issue, #36116:
URL: https://github.com/apache/superset/issues/36116
## [SIP] Proposal for Improved Error Reporting During Dashboard/Chart Import
Validation
### Motivation
Currently, when importing dashboards or charts using the Superset Import
API, any validation failure or metadata mismatch inside the import bundle
results in opaque error messages such as:
~~~
Import dashboard failed for an unknown reason
~~~
The server logs contain a generic stack trace like:
KeyError: 580
…but the API response and UI do not expose which part of the import bundle
is invalid.
This makes it difficult to debug problems such as:
- Mismatched IDs in `filter_scopes`
- Missing chart references in dashboard metadata
- Broken or outdated metadata produced by older Superset versions
- Incorrect ZIP structure
Users must manually inspect YAML/JSON inside the ZIP—something that is
error-prone and slow.
Improving the error messages will significantly reduce debugging time and
make import flows more predictable for developers.
---
### Proposed Change
1. Add Proper Aggregated Validation Error Logging
The current code in `superset/commands/importers/v1/assets.py` catches a
list of validation exceptions but logs almost nothing, emitting only:
Import dashboard failed for an unknown reason
This proposal introduces structured, explicit error logging for each
validation exception.
### Proposed implementation
Below is a production-aligned rewrite of the snippet the author experimented
with:
```python
# superset/commands/importers/v1/assets.py
import logging
logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
if exceptions:
for exc in exceptions:
# Log each validation exception clearly with details
logger.error(
"Import validation error: %s | details: %s",
str(exc),
getattr(exc, "messages", None)
)
# Raise a domain-specific error containing the full list
raise CommandInvalidError(
"Error importing assets due to validation failures",
exceptions=exceptions,
)
```
Improvements over the experimental version
- Uses logger (Superset convention) instead of logging
- Clearer message formatting
- Includes both the exception itself and its .messages attribute (if any)
- Raises a more descriptive CommandInvalidError
- Matches the surrounding command architecture in other importers
## Return Descriptive Error Messages via API
Example API response:
~~~
{
"error": "ImportValidationError",
"errors": [
{
"message": "Chart ID 580 referenced in filter_scopes does not exist.",
"exception_type": "KeyError"
}
]
}
~~~
### New or Changed Public Interfaces
API Responses
Import-related endpoints will now return:
More detailed error messages
Structured lists of validation failures
This is backward compatible because:
The HTTP code remains the same
Existing clients that ignore details remain unaffected
CLI (superset import-*)
The CLI will print the same improved messages, giving developers immediate
insight into metadata issues.
No CLI flags or config changes required.
### New dependencies
None
### Migration Plan and Compatibility
No migrations required.
### Rejected Alternatives
1. Only improving server logs, not API responses
Many users run imports in CI/CD pipelines or via automated scripts and do
not have access to server logs.
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