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Exceptions in task logs no longer contain source code #55910
Description
Apache Airflow version
3.0.6
If "Other Airflow 2 version" selected, which one?
No response
What happened?
Updated with better example
Airflow 3 no longer captures all the lines from an Exception. It seems like it displays part of the traceback but not the actual lines of code. This makes debugging difficult.
What you think should happen instead?
No response
How to reproduce
from datetime import datetime
from airflow import DAG
from airflow.operators.python import PythonOperator
default_args = {
"owner": "airflow",
"depends_on_past": False,
"start_date": datetime(2021, 6, 18),
"retries": 0,
}
def failing_python_function():
print("Things are going well!")
raise Exception("Down bad rn")
def nested_function():
failing_python_function()
def nested_function_2():
nested_function()
with DAG(
"test_error",
default_args=default_args,
schedule=None,
catchup=False,
) as dag:
PythonOperator(
task_id="run_entrypoint",
python_callable=nested_function_2,
)Operating System
Debian
Versions of Apache Airflow Providers
No response
Deployment
Astronomer
Deployment details
No response
Anything else?
No response
Are you willing to submit PR?
- Yes I am willing to submit a PR!
Code of Conduct
- I agree to follow this project's Code of Conduct
Activity
jroachgolf84 commentedon Sep 21, 2025
Hmmm, those two screenshots that you included have different exceptions. The first (Airflow 2.X) looks like it is failing to fetch a Git repository. I was NOT able to reproduce this exception, and have not seen anything similar before. I'll leave this open in case someone else is able to reproduce.
NilsJPWerner commentedon Sep 22, 2025
I will try to create another replication.
NilsJPWerner commentedon Sep 22, 2025
Updated with better comparison.
It seems like airflow 3 does not show the indented part of the exception frame that shows the contents of the line of code.
[-]Exceptions are not logged properly[/-][+]Exceptions in task logs no longer contain source code[/+]Venture200 commentedon Jul 15, 2026
is there any update on it ? I am also experiencing same problem. No verbose content about Exception it shows -> ERROR - Task failed with exception. Version 3.1.8
koleharv commentedon Aug 17, 2026
This reproduces, and the cause looks structural rather than a formatting slip — it only affects deployments using JSON log output, which may be why it hasn't reproduced for everyone in this thread.
Where the source lines go missing
shared/logging/src/airflow_shared/logging/structlog.pybuilds the JSON branch's exception renderer from structlog'sExceptionDictTransformer:That transformer emits one dict per frame containing
filename,linenoandname— and nothing else. There is no field carrying the source text of the line, so the rendered traceback can only ever show the frame headers, never the indented code line beneath them. Checked against structlog 26.1.0:use_richmakes no difference here; both paths produce the same three keys.Why it's specific to JSON output
The non-JSON branch of the same function uses
structlog.dev.plain_traceback(orRichTracebackFormatterwhenDEVis set), and those go throughtraceback.print_exception, which pulls the source line vialinecache. Both retain the code line. So the same failing task shows full tracebacks in text output and header-only tracebacks in JSON output.That matches the Airflow 2 → 3 change: the standard-library formatting that carried the source line is no longer on the path for structured logs.
Question before anyone writes a patch
Restoring the code line would mean carrying it per frame — for example a transformer that adds
linecache.getline(filename, lineno)alongside the existing keys, with the UI rendering it under each frame. That does make every logged traceback bigger, andshow_locals=False/use_rich=Falsesuggest the current settings were chosen deliberately to keep structured logs compact.Is restoring parity with the text output something the project wants, and if so is a per-frame source field the right shape — or would you rather this stayed as is and the docs noted the difference? Happy to put up a PR once there's a direction.
Drafted-by: Claude Code (Opus 5); reviewed by @Arose26 before posting
souradeep07 commentedon Oct 19, 2026
I've opened #75100 for this, following the approach suggested above: each frame in the JSON traceback gets a
linefield (read vialinecache, as the stdlibtracebackmodule does), and the UI shows it under the frame.On the open questions:
Happy to change the shape if maintainers would prefer something else.
Show source code lines in task log tracebacks
Show source code lines in task log tracebacks (apache#75100)
[v3-4-test] Show source code lines in task log tracebacks (#75100) (#…