Getting the following error. Please help me understand What led to this error?

[manindrakrishna]

WARN in net.logstash.logback.encoder.LogstashEncoder@5cc13756 - Error encountered while encoding log event. Event: [ERROR] Event publishing failed com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.exc.InvalidDefinitionException: Direct self-reference leading to cycle (through reference chain: org.springframework.messaging.MessageDeliveryException["cause"]->org.springframework.integration.MessageDispatchingException["mostSpecificCause"])

at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.exc.InvalidDefinitionException: Direct self-reference leading to cycle (through reference chain: org.springframework.messaging.MessageDeliveryException["cause"]->org.springframework.integration.MessageDispatchingException["mostSpecificCause"])

at  at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.exc.InvalidDefinitionException.from(InvalidDefinitionException.java:77
at  at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.SerializerProvider.reportBadDefinition(SerializerProvider.java:1276)
at  at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ser.BeanPropertyWriter._handleSelfReference(BeanPropertyWriter.java:944)
at  at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ser.BeanPropertyWriter.serializeAsField(BeanPropertyWriter.java:722)
at  at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ser.std.BeanSerializerBase.serializeFields(BeanSerializerBase.java:770)
at  at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ser.BeanSerializer.serialize(BeanSerializer.java:178)
at  at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ser.BeanPropertyWriter.serializeAsField(BeanPropertyWriter.java:728)
at  at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ser.std.BeanSerializerBase.serializeFields(BeanSerializerBase.java:770)
at  at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ser.BeanSerializer.serialize(BeanSerializer.java:178)
at  at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ser.DefaultSerializerProvider._serialize(DefaultSerializerProvider.java:480)
at  at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ser.DefaultSerializerProvider.serializeValue(DefaultSerializerProvider.java:319)
at  at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper.writeValue(ObjectMapper.java:3126)
at  at com.fasterxml.jackson.core.util.JsonGeneratorDelegate.writeObject(JsonGeneratorDelegate.java:421)
at  at net.logstash.logback.marker.ObjectAppendingMarker.writeFieldValue(ObjectAppendingMarker.java:94)
at  at net.logstash.logback.marker.SingleFieldAppendingMarker.writeTo(SingleFieldAppendingMarker.java:84)
at  at net.logstash.logback.composite.loggingevent.ArgumentsJsonProvider.writeTo(ArgumentsJsonProvider.java:76)
at  at net.logstash.logback.composite.loggingevent.ArgumentsJsonProvider.writeTo(ArgumentsJsonProvider.java:43)
at  at net.logstash.logback.composite.JsonProviders.writeTo(JsonProviders.java:77)
at  at net.logstash.logback.composite.CompositeJsonFormatter.writeEventToGenerator(CompositeJsonFormatter.java:195)
at  at net.logstash.logback.composite.CompositeJsonFormatter.writeEventToOutputStream(CompositeJsonFormatter.java:170)
at  at net.logstash.logback.encoder.CompositeJsonEncoder.encode(CompositeJsonEncoder.java:122)
at  at net.logstash.logback.encoder.CompositeJsonEncoder.encode(CompositeJsonEncoder.java:34
at  at ch.qos.logback.core.OutputStreamAppender.subAppend(OutputStreamAppender.java:230)
at  at ch.qos.logback.core.OutputStreamAppender.append(OutputStreamAppender.java:102)
at  at ch.qos.logback.core.UnsynchronizedAppenderBase.doAppend(UnsynchronizedAppenderBase.java:84)
at  at ch.qos.logback.core.spi.AppenderAttachableImpl.appendLoopOnAppenders(AppenderAttachableImpl.java:51)
at  at ch.qos.logback.core.AsyncAppenderBase$Worker.run(AsyncAppenderBase.java:290)

I have the below configuration in logback-spring.xml

<configuration debug="true" scan="true" scanPeriod="30 seconds">
  <springProperty scope="context" name="app_name" source="spring.application.name"/>
  <appender name="console"
            class="ch.qos.logback.core.ConsoleAppender">
    <encoder class="net.logstash.logback.encoder.LoggingEventCompositeJsonEncoder">
      <jsonGeneratorDecorator class="net.logstash.logback.mask.MaskingJsonGeneratorDecorator">
        <defaultMask>********</defaultMask>
        <path>*/emailId</path>
        <path>*/originalUid</path>
        <path>*/mobileNumber</path>
        <path>*/dateOfBirth</path>
      </jsonGeneratorDecorator>
      <providers>
        <timestamp/>
        <version/>
        <logLevel/>
        <logLevelValue/>
        <context/>
        <loggerName/>
        <threadName/>
        <message/>
        <arguments/>
        <pattern>
          <omitEmptyFields>true</omitEmptyFields>
          <pattern>
            {
            "host_name": "%mdc{host_name}",
            "traceId": "%mdc{traceId}",
            "spanId": "%mdc{spanId}",
            "body": "#asJson{%mdc{body}}",
            "x-requester-id": "%mdc{X-Requester-ID}",
            "AD-GUID": "%X{AD.requestGUID}"
            }
          </pattern>
        </pattern>
      </providers>
    </encoder>
  </appender>

  <appender name="async" class="ch.qos.logback.classic.AsyncAppender">
    <appender-ref ref="console"/>
  </appender>

  <root level="info">
    <appender-ref ref="async"/>
  </root>

  <logger name="com.manindra" level="trace" additivity="false">
    <appender-ref ref="async"/>
  </logger>

</configuration>

And I am using SLF4J logger
And implementation 'net.logstash.logback:logstash-logback-encoder:6.6'

[brenuart]

Hi,

Thanks for the feedback.
As far as I can tell, the problem is caused by Jackson that complains about a cycle in the object graph to serialise. See:

com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.exc.InvalidDefinitionException: Direct self-reference leading to cycle (through reference chain: org.springframework.messaging.MessageDeliveryException["cause"]->org.springframework.integration.MessageDispatchingException["mostSpecificCause"])

This likely comes from an object you added to the log via the StructuredArguments feature. There is unfortunately not much logstash-logback-encoder can do about it... You should definitely look at what solution Jackson has to offer to work around this situation.

As a side note I notice you are using Logback's native Async support (ch.qos.logback.classic.AsyncAppender). I would recommend using net.logstash.logback.appender.LoggingEventAsyncDisruptorAppender instead as it provides more features and is more efficient, both in terms of CPU usage and GC pressure (see Async Appenders for more information).

Also make sure you upgrade to the latest version of logstash-logback-encoder. It contains a lot of improvements in various areas and may also sometimes give more informative error message in case of issues.

Feel free to post any feedback if we can help.