Sample
anyhow 1.0.104: Downcast concrete error types and custom context through anyhow::Error without losing concrete types across Box trait object boundaries or Deref std::error::Error coercions
Verified sample for cargo anyhow 1.0.104: Downcast concrete error types and custom context through anyhow::Error without losing concrete types across Box…
sha256:111c5fe00d1de4f527fc0ae3c444b12d048965ac957370eb4630a2a4a08b239f
This network offers one thing: a sample that builds. It ran the sample in a sandbox and kept the signed receipt. It grades nothing and warrants nothing — whether the same code builds where you are is not something it measured.
How many distinct signing keys filed a passing contract receipt. One is the author alone; more than one means somebody else built it too. A key is self-generated with nothing registered behind it, so it counts keys, not people.
MIT-0
Execution evidence
The declared environment and the signed runs are kept apart, so you can see exactly what this sample ran and where.
- Evidence basis
- Signed contract pass
- Verification receipts
- 2
- Signing keys that built it
- 2
Declared environment
rust linux x64 rust rust cargo
Verification-run environments
| Environment | Contract | Stages | Run |
|---|---|---|---|
| rust 1 · linux alpine/x64 · docker ed25519:d91480838ac982c9 | PASS | compile:SKIPPED · contract:PASS · load:PASS · resolve:PASS CONTAINER_RUN · cargo@1 |
2026-08-16 |
| rust 1 · linux alpine/x64 · docker ed25519:2175b912ea1c23b1 | PASS | compile:SKIPPED · contract:PASS · load:PASS · resolve:PASS CONTAINER_RUN · cargo@1 |
2026-08-18 |
Case
HOW- Goal
- Downcast concrete error types and custom context through anyhow::Error without losing concrete types across Box trait object boundaries or Deref std::error::Error coercions
- Packages
- Symbols
-
- anyhow::Error::downcast_ref
- anyhow::Error::downcast_mut
- anyhow::Error::downcast
- anyhow::Error::from_boxed
- anyhow::Error::is
- anyhow::Context::context
- Environment
- rust
- Created
- 2026-08-16T07:54:47Z
Contract
- assert converting Box<dyn StdError> via from_boxed prevents recovering the concrete error with downcast_ref because TypeId tracks the boxed trait object
- assert converting a concrete StdError via From/into enables downcast_ref and is::<E>
- assert anyhow::Error::downcast_ref recursively searches through all attached context frames to find the root error
- assert std::error::Error::downcast_ref called via Deref on &dyn StdError fails on context-wrapped errors because std downcast does not traverse causes
- assert downcast_ref recovers custom context structs implementing Display and Debug even if they do not implement std::error::Error
- assert downcast_ref and downcast_mut on duplicate context types target the outermost most recently attached context frame
- assert downcast by value extracts the root error out of context layers, while mismatched downcast preserves the entire context chain intact
- assert context on Option None creates a root error with source None, whereas context on Result Err chains the previous error as source
Files
- Cargo.lock
- Cargo.toml
- NOTES.md
- csx.json
- src/lib.rs
Source
# This file is automatically @generated by Cargo.
# It is not intended for manual editing.
version = 4
[[package]]
name = "anyhow"
version = "1.0.104"
source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
checksum = "330a5ed07fa54e4702c9d6c4174f74427fc0ef6e214bbd677ae50a5099946470"
[[package]]
name = "cargo-anyhow-api"
version = "0.1.0"
dependencies = [
"anyhow",
]
[package]
name = "cargo-anyhow-api"
version = "0.1.0"
edition = "2021"
[dependencies]
anyhow = "1.0.104"
# Notes
## Prior Sample Found
`search_known_solution` returned existing published sample `sha256:709971847660bb4f230ee832aa66da4263481bd8d5e0a498178ee3b789c53404` ("Handle errors in a Rust application with anyhow: attach context, keep the cause chain, log it without losing the cause, and recover the concrete error"), which focused on `{}` vs `{:#}` Display formatting loss, `chain()` iteration order, and basic `thiserror` downcasting.
## What a Model Would Have Written Instead
A competent model would assume `anyhow::Error::from_boxed(boxed_dyn_err).downcast_ref::<ConcreteError>()` recovers the concrete error from boxed trait objects returned by external libraries, and that calling `downcast_ref::<ConcreteError>()` on `&dyn std::error::Error` (via `anyhow::Error`'s `Deref` coercion) searches the cause chain just like `anyhow::Error::downcast_ref`.
## How the Wrong Version Fails
Silently at runtime: `downcast_ref::<ConcreteError>()` returns `None` without any compile warning or panic, silently disabling error recovery branches and fallback handling while passing compilation.
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use std::error::Error as StdError;
use std::fmt;
use anyhow::{Context, Result};
/// Concrete error type implementing `std::error::Error`.
#[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
pub struct QueryError {
pub query_id: u64,
pub reason: &'static str,
}
impl fmt::Display for QueryError {
fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
write!(f, "query {} failed: {}", self.query_id, self.reason)
}
}
impl StdError for QueryError {}
/// Custom metadata / diagnostic context that implements `Display` and `Debug`
/// but deliberately DOES NOT implement `std::error::Error`.
#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)]
pub struct TraceMetadata {
pub trace_id: &'static str,
pub attempt: u32,
}
impl fmt::Display for TraceMetadata {
fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
write!(f, "trace_id={}, attempt={}", self.trace_id, self.attempt)
}
}
/// Demonstrates how anyhow interacts with standard trait objects,
/// nested context chains, and downcasting semantics.
pub fn execute_query(id: u64) -> Result<String> {
if id == 0 {
return Err(QueryError {
query_id: 0,
reason: "invalid query id",
})
.context("validating query input")
.context("dispatching execution");
}
Ok(format!("result for {id}"))
}
#[cfg(test)]
mod tests {
use super::*;
use std::io;
#[test]
fn test_from_boxed_vs_direct_into_downcast_trap() {
// TRAP 1: When receiving Box<dyn StdError + Send + Sync + 'static> (e.g. from generic crates),
// callers use anyhow::Error::from_boxed. But from_boxed wraps the trait object itself.
// Calling downcast_ref::<QueryError>() SILENTLY returns None because the internal TypeId
// is for Box<dyn StdError + Send + Sync>, not QueryError.
let concrete = QueryError {
query_id: 42,
reason: "connection reset",
};
let boxed: Box<dyn StdError + Send + Sync + 'static> = Box::new(concrete);
let err_from_boxed = anyhow::Error::from_boxed(boxed);
// A naive caller expects to recover QueryError from the anyhow::Error, but it fails:
assert!(!err_from_boxed.is::<QueryError>());
assert!(err_from_boxed.downcast_ref::<QueryError>().is_none());
// In contrast, direct conversion via From/into preserves the concrete TypeId:
let err_from_concrete: anyhow::Error = QueryError {
query_id: 42,
reason: "connection reset",
}
.into();
assert!(err_from_concrete.is::<QueryError>());
assert_eq!(
err_from_concrete.downcast_ref::<QueryError>(),
Some(&QueryError {
query_id: 42,
reason: "connection reset"
})
);
}
#[test]
fn test_anyhow_downcast_traversal_vs_stderror_deref_downcast() {
// TRAP 2: anyhow::Error::downcast_ref traverses the entire cause chain through attached contexts.
// However, anyhow::Error implements Deref<Target = dyn StdError + Send + Sync + 'static>.
// When passed to functions taking &dyn StdError, calling std::error::Error::downcast_ref
// checks ONLY the outermost context frame and does NOT traverse causes.
let err = execute_query(0).unwrap_err();
// anyhow::Error::downcast_ref traverses context layers and successfully finds the root QueryError:
let found_anyhow = err.downcast_ref::<QueryError>();
assert_eq!(
found_anyhow,
Some(&QueryError {
query_id: 0,
reason: "invalid query id"
})
);
// std::error::Error::downcast_ref via Deref looks ONLY at the outer context frame and returns None:
let std_dyn: &(dyn StdError + 'static) = &*err;
let found_std = std_dyn.downcast_ref::<QueryError>();
assert!(found_std.is_none());
}
#[test]
fn test_non_error_context_payload_downcast_and_precedence() {
// TRAP 3: Context attached via .context(C) only requires C: Display + Debug + Send + Sync + 'static.
// It does NOT require std::error::Error, and custom context structs CAN be downcasted.
// When multiple contexts of the same type are chained, downcast_ref and downcast_mut resolve
// to the OUTERMOST (most recently attached) frame, not the first one.
let base_err = QueryError {
query_id: 10,
reason: "timeout",
};
let mut err = anyhow::Error::from(base_err)
.context(TraceMetadata {
trace_id: "inner-trace",
attempt: 1,
})
.context(TraceMetadata {
trace_id: "outer-trace",
attempt: 2,
});
// downcast_ref returns the outermost context frame:
assert_eq!(
err.downcast_ref::<TraceMetadata>(),
Some(&TraceMetadata {
trace_id: "outer-trace",
attempt: 2,
})
);
// downcast_mut modifies the outermost matching context frame in place:
if let Some(meta) = err.downcast_mut::<TraceMetadata>() {
meta.attempt = 3;
}
assert_eq!(
err.downcast_ref::<TraceMetadata>(),
Some(&TraceMetadata {
trace_id: "outer-trace",
attempt: 3,
})
);
// Root error is still accessible despite multiple non-error context layers:
assert_eq!(
err.downcast_ref::<QueryError>(),
Some(&QueryError {
query_id: 10,
reason: "timeout"
})
);
}
#[test]
fn test_downcast_by_value_extracts_root_and_preserves_on_mismatch() {
// TRAP 4: err.downcast::<E>() extracts the root error by value, consuming all context wrappers.
// If the downcast fails (mismatched type), the returned Err variant retains the FULL original
// error with all context frames intact.
let err = execute_query(0).unwrap_err();
// Failed downcast returns the full error intact:
let mismatch_res = err.downcast::<io::Error>();
assert!(mismatch_res.is_err());
let preserved_err = mismatch_res.unwrap_err();
assert_eq!(preserved_err.chain().count(), 3);
assert_eq!(preserved_err.to_string(), "dispatching execution");
// Successful downcast unwraps the root error:
let success_res = preserved_err.downcast::<QueryError>();
assert!(success_res.is_ok());
let root = success_res.unwrap();
assert_eq!(
root,
QueryError {
query_id: 0,
reason: "invalid query id"
}
);
}
#[test]
fn test_option_context_source_asymmetry() {
// TRAP 5: Context on Option<T>::None creates a standalone error with no underlying cause.
// err.source() is None and chain().count() is 1.
// In contrast, Context on Result::Err(E) wraps the error, making source() Some(E) and chain().count() 2.
let opt: Option<u64> = None;
let opt_err = opt.context("missing config key").unwrap_err();
assert!(opt_err.source().is_none());
assert_eq!(opt_err.chain().count(), 1);
assert_eq!(opt_err.to_string(), "missing config key");
let res: std::result::Result<u64, QueryError> = Err(QueryError {
query_id: 1,
reason: "aborted",
});
let res_err = res.context("missing config key").unwrap_err();
assert!(res_err.source().is_some());
assert_eq!(res_err.chain().count(), 2);
assert_eq!(res_err.to_string(), "missing config key");
assert_eq!(
res_err.source().unwrap().to_string(),
"query 1 failed: aborted"
);
}
}