Throwing within `util.inspect.custom` can cause an `ERR_INTERNAL_ASSERTION`

[paperclover]

Version

20.5.1

Platform

Darwin paperback.local 22.6.0 Darwin Kernel Version 22.6.0: Wed Jul 5 22:21:53 PDT 2023; root:xnu-8796.141.3~6/RELEASE_ARM64_T6020 arm64

Subsystem

No response

What steps will reproduce the bug?

import util from "util";
console.log({
  hello: {
    [util.inspect.custom]: () => {
      throw new Error("hello");
    },
  },
});

How often does it reproduce? Is there a required condition?

Every Time

What is the expected behavior? Why is that the expected behavior?

To throw the error without an internal assertion error.

What do you see instead?

node:internal/errors:496
    ErrorCaptureStackTrace(err);
    ^

Error [ERR_INTERNAL_ASSERTION]: Error: hello
    at [nodejs.util.inspect.custom] (file:///private/tmp/scratchpad_20230815T031811/index.mjs:5:13)
    at formatValue (node:internal/util/inspect:804:19)
    at formatProperty (node:internal/util/inspect:1944:11)
    at formatRaw (node:internal/util/inspect:1053:9)
    at formatValue (node:internal/util/inspect:839:10)
    at inspect (node:internal/util/inspect:363:10)
    at formatWithOptionsInternal (node:internal/util/inspect:2297:40)
    at formatWithOptions (node:internal/util/inspect:2159:10)
    at console.value (node:internal/console/constructor:342:14)
    at console.log (node:internal/console/constructor:379:61)
This is caused by either a bug in Node.js or incorrect usage of Node.js internals.
Please open an issue with this stack trace at https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues

    at new NodeError (node:internal/errors:405:5)
    at Function.fail (node:internal/assert:20:9)
    at handleMaxCallStackSize (node:internal/util/inspect:1555:10)
    at formatRaw (node:internal/util/inspect:1061:12)
    at formatValue (node:internal/util/inspect:839:10)
    at inspect (node:internal/util/inspect:363:10)
    at formatWithOptionsInternal (node:internal/util/inspect:2297:40)
    at formatWithOptions (node:internal/util/inspect:2159:10)
    at console.value (node:internal/console/constructor:342:14)
    at console.log (node:internal/console/constructor:379:61) {
  code: 'ERR_INTERNAL_ASSERTION'
}

Node.js v20.5.1

Additional information

No response

[Manish4044]

Hey @atlowChemi @paperdave , as someone new to this project, will this issue be a good point to start?

[atlowChemi]

@Manish4044 this is an issue which the solution is not likely to face any objection, so it would probably be OK. 🙂
That said, this is a code issue which will require getting into the internals, and if you are looking for a smooth starting point - docs fixes/improvements might be easier.

[BridgeAR]

The issue is in the handleMaxCallStackSize method. There are actually multiple reasons that could cause an error to be thrown in that spot and they should cause the original error from being thrown instead of creating the internal one.

node/lib/internal/util/inspect.js

Lines 1544 to 1556 in ccf46ba

	function handleMaxCallStackSize(ctx, err, constructorName, indentationLvl) {
	if (isStackOverflowError(err)) {
	ctx.seen.pop();
	ctx.indentationLvl = indentationLvl;
	return ctx.stylize(
	`[${constructorName}: Inspection interrupted ` +
	'prematurely. Maximum call stack size exceeded.]',
	'special',
	);
	}
	/* c8 ignore next */
	assert.fail(err.stack);
	}

It is therefore very straight forward to fix.

[Manish4044]

Thanks @atlowChemi @BridgeAR I will try to to use these info and fix the problem.