Add HTTP status context to XML parsing errors #3602
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When XML parsing fails due to empty or malformed responses, users now receive the actual HTTP error response from the service alongside the parsing error, providing useful information about what actually happened. Before: ResponseParserError: Unable to parse response (no element found: line 1, column 0), invalid XML received. Further retries may succeed: b'' After: ResponseParserError: Unable to parse response (no element found: line 1, column 0), invalid XML received. Further retries may succeed: b'' HTTP 413: Content Too Large This exposes the real service error (HTTP 413: Content Too Large) that was previously hidden behind cryptic XML parsing failures, giving users actionable information about why their request failed.
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Codecov Report✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests. Additional details and impacted files@@ Coverage Diff @@
## develop #3602 +/- ##
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- Coverage 93.17% 92.71% -0.46%
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Files 68 68
Lines 15411 15571 +160
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+ Hits 14359 14437 +78
- Misses 1052 1134 +82 ☔ View full report in Codecov by Sentry. 🚀 New features to boost your workflow:
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The HTTP 413 status message differs between Python versions:
- Python 3.13: "Content Too Large"
- Python 3.11: "Request Entity Too Large"
Updated test assertions to use assertIn("HTTP 413:") instead of exact
string matching to ensure tests pass across supported Python versions
while still verifying that HTTP status context is properly added to
XML parsing errors.
Add hasattr(e, 'add_note') checks before calling add_note() to ensure compatibility with Python 3.9 and 3.10 where PEP 678 exception notes are not available. The enhanced HTTP status context will only be added in Python 3.11+ while maintaining backward compatibility.
nateprewitt
reviewed
Nov 25, 2025
botocore/parsers.py
Outdated
| response['status_code'], '' | ||
| ) | ||
| if status_message: | ||
| if status_message and hasattr(e, 'add_note'): |
Contributor
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I think this requires Python 3.11+ so this is probably not the approach we want to take to make sure this works everywhere.
Contributor
Author
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Thanks Nate, yes I only found out from the CI tests and trying options. Will check for other ways.
Enhanced ResponseParserError messages to include HTTP status codes and messages when XML parsing fails, providing better debugging context for users while maintaining full backward compatibility. Changes: - Modified QueryParser._do_error_parse() to append HTTP status context - Modified RestXMLParser._parse_error_from_body() to append HTTP status context - Enhanced error messages format: "original error (HTTP 413: Content Too Large)" - Preserves original ResponseParserError exception type for compatibility - Added comprehensive tests for both parser classes - Tests handle Python version differences in HTTP status messages
- Improve code readability while maintaining identical functionality
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Problem
When services return 4XX errors with empty or malformed XML bodies, users receive parser errors that hide the actual service response. Instead of seeing the real HTTP error from the service, users get XML parsing failures:
The error is returned from
def _parse_xml_string_to_dom(self, xml_string):.The actual service response (for example: HTTP 413: Content Too Large) is completely hidden from users, making it hard to understand why their request failed.
An example of occurrence: CloudWatch's
put_dashboardAPI when the request body exceeds size limits.Solution
This PR surfaces the actual HTTP error response from the service by adding HTTP status context. Users now see both the parsing error and the real service error that caused it:
Now users can see that their request failed because the content was too large (the real service error: HTTP 413: Content Too Large).
Note