fix(android): Backfill pre-init ANR and native crash metadata by romtsn · Pull Request #5762 · getsentry/sentry-java

romtsn · 2026-07-14T20:17:27Z

📜 Description

Backfill release, environment, distribution (dist), and app version/build on ANR and native crash events from the current SDK options when persisted values are unavailable.

This covers exits that happen before SDK initialization, when the SDK has not yet persisted those options. Current values are used only when the app has not been updated since the exit. A missing or invalid package update timestamp is treated conservatively so historical events are not attributed to a newer app version.

💡 Motivation and Context

ANR and native crash events are reported from ApplicationExitInfo on the next SDK initialization. If the terminated process exited before initializing the SDK, release-related options were never persisted and the reported event can be missing useful metadata.

The reporting process already has the same values in its current options when the package has not been updated. Comparing the exit timestamp with PackageInfo.lastUpdateTime allows those values to be used without attaching metadata from a newer app version.

Closes #4227
Closes #3287

💚 How did you test it?

./gradlew ':sentry-android-core:testDebugUnitTest' --tests='*ApplicationExitInfoEventProcessorTest*' --info (42 tests passed)
./gradlew spotlessApply apiDump

📝 Checklist

I added GH Issue ID & Linear ID
I added tests to verify the changes.
No new PII added or SDK only sends newly added PII if sendDefaultPII is enabled.
I updated the docs if needed.
I updated the wizard if needed.
Review from the native team if needed.
No breaking change or entry added to the changelog.
No breaking change for hybrid SDKs or communicated to hybrid SDKs.
Public API changes reviewed by another Mobile SDK team member or implemented according to the develop docs spec.

🔮 Next steps

None.

Use current options when persisted values are missing and the app has not been updated since the exit. Avoid attributing historical crashes to a newer app version.

sentry · 2026-07-14T20:21:25Z

📲 Install Builds

Android

🔗 App Name	App ID	Version	Configuration
SDK Size	io.sentry.tests.size	8.49.0 (1)	release

⚙️ sentry-android Build Distribution Settings

github-actions · 2026-07-14T20:26:38Z

Performance metrics 🚀

	Plain	With Sentry	Diff
Startup time	314.47 ms	363.17 ms	48.70 ms
Size	0 B	0 B	0 B

Baseline results on branch: main

Startup times

Revision	Plain	With Sentry	Diff
`382d6c1`	306.85 ms	368.70 ms	61.85 ms
`e63ad34`	323.67 ms	390.33 ms	66.67 ms
`91bb874`	310.68 ms	359.24 ms	48.56 ms
`5865051`	324.24 ms	356.02 ms	31.78 ms
`806307f`	357.85 ms	424.64 ms	66.79 ms
`b193867`	331.08 ms	397.06 ms	65.98 ms
`0eaac1e`	322.53 ms	389.31 ms	66.78 ms
`6405ec5`	310.88 ms	354.56 ms	43.69 ms
`d15471f`	310.66 ms	368.19 ms	57.53 ms
`951caf7`	323.66 ms	392.82 ms	69.16 ms

App size

Revision	Plain	With Sentry	Diff
`382d6c1`	1.58 MiB	2.29 MiB	719.85 KiB
`e63ad34`	0 B	0 B	0 B
`91bb874`	1.58 MiB	2.13 MiB	559.07 KiB
`5865051`	0 B	0 B	0 B
`806307f`	1.58 MiB	2.10 MiB	533.42 KiB
`b193867`	1.58 MiB	2.19 MiB	620.00 KiB
`0eaac1e`	1.58 MiB	2.19 MiB	619.17 KiB
`6405ec5`	1.58 MiB	2.12 MiB	552.23 KiB
`d15471f`	1.58 MiB	2.13 MiB	559.54 KiB
`951caf7`	1.58 MiB	2.13 MiB	558.77 KiB

Previous results on branch: romtsn/fix/validate-app-update-timestamp

Startup times

Revision	Plain	With Sentry	Diff
`d19c570`	292.57 ms	374.07 ms	81.50 ms
`d4ce194`	321.51 ms	369.29 ms	47.78 ms
`7a20e16`	323.59 ms	368.29 ms	44.70 ms
`17b29d9`	311.50 ms	357.90 ms	46.40 ms

App size

Revision	Plain	With Sentry	Diff
`d19c570`	0 B	0 B	0 B
`d4ce194`	0 B	0 B	0 B
`7a20e16`	0 B	0 B	0 B
`17b29d9`	0 B	0 B	0 B

Populate app version and build for historical ANR and native crash events when the current package metadata is safe to use. Co-Authored-By: Codex <noreply@openai.com>

Backfill only app version and build for historical exits. Avoid attaching current localized app names, identifiers, or split APK state to older events. Co-Authored-By: Codex <noreply@openai.com>

markushi

Mostly minor nits, apart from the return handling of isAppNotUpdated()

markushi · 2026-07-16T07:43:40Z

+      return true;
+    }
+
+    final PackageInfo packageInfo = ContextUtils.getPackageInfo(context, buildInfoProvider);


Suggested change

final PackageInfo packageInfo = ContextUtils.getPackageInfo(context, buildInfoProvider);

final @Nullable PackageInfo packageInfo = ContextUtils.getPackageInfo(context, buildInfoProvider);

markushi · 2026-07-16T07:45:30Z

+      timestamp = null;
+    }
+    if (timestamp == null) {
+      return true;


shouldn't this be false? If we don't know the crash time, we can't say for sure if there was an update in between between the crash and now or not.

Suggested change

return true;

return false;

Fixed in e017d22. Unknown timestamps now fail closed, with a regression test confirming current release metadata is not used.

markushi · 2026-07-16T07:47:53Z

+    }
+    if (release != null) {
+      try {
+        App app = event.getContexts().getApp();


Suggested change

App app = event.getContexts().getApp();

@Nullable App app = event.getContexts().getApp();

markushi · 2026-07-16T07:49:07Z

+  private void setDist(final @NotNull SentryBaseEvent event, final boolean canUseCurrentOptions) {
    if (event.getDist() == null) {
-      final String dist = PersistingOptionsObserver.read(options, DIST_FILENAME, String.class);
+      String dist = PersistingOptionsObserver.read(options, DIST_FILENAME, String.class);


Suggested change

String dist = PersistingOptionsObserver.read(options, DIST_FILENAME, String.class);

@Nullable String dist = PersistingOptionsObserver.read(options, DIST_FILENAME, String.class);

Do not use current SDK options when an exit timestamp is unavailable because an intervening app update cannot be ruled out. Co-Authored-By: Codex <noreply@openai.com>

Persist the app update timestamp after writing the options snapshot. Trust cached release, environment, and dist only when the marker identifies the current app installation, preserving launch-specific values without leaking stale metadata across app updates. Co-Authored-By: Codex <noreply@openai.com>

Apply the app-generation marker when selecting option tags and the replay-on-error sample rate. Preserve values from the crashed launch within one app version while rejecting stale values after an update. Co-Authored-By: Codex <noreply@openai.com>

cursor · 2026-07-16T09:57:05Z

+    }
+
+    final T persistedValue = PersistingOptionsObserver.read(options, fileName, clazz);
+    return persistedValue != null ? persistedValue : canUseCurrentOptions ? currentValue : null;


Stale cache used across updates

Medium Severity

When the exit is from an older app generation and the options cache is also not marked current, getOption still returns persisted values. After multiple updates, that cache can be from an intermediate generation written after the exit, so release, environment, dist, and tags can be attributed to the wrong app version despite the generation marker being available to detect that.

Additional Locations (1)

sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/ApplicationExitInfoEventProcessor.java#L601-L609

^{Reviewed by Cursor Bugbot for commit 29f928e. Configure here.}

Document why the generation observer uses its release callback only after the options cache has been fully persisted. Co-Authored-By: Codex <noreply@openai.com>

cursor

Cursor Bugbot has reviewed your changes and found 1 potential issue.

There are 2 total unresolved issues (including 1 from previous review).

^{❌ Bugbot Autofix is OFF. To automatically fix reported issues with cloud agents, enable autofix in the Cursor dashboard.}

^{Reviewed by Cursor Bugbot for commit a7436f4. Configure here.}

cursor · 2026-07-16T10:16:51Z

+        && packageInfo.lastUpdateTime > 0
+        && cachedLastUpdateTime == packageInfo.lastUpdateTime;
+  }
+


Stale proguard with current release

High Severity

When getOption prefers current options because the options cache is from an older app generation, setDebugMeta and setSdk still read the stale persisted cache. Enrichable pre-init exits can then get the current release paired with a previous generation's ProGuard UUID and SDK version, which breaks symbolication for the main case this change aims to fix.

Additional Locations (1)

sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/ApplicationExitInfoEventProcessor.java#L565-L581

^{Reviewed by Cursor Bugbot for commit a7436f4. Configure here.}

fix(android): Backfill exit options when app is unchanged

90b0b05

Use current options when persisted values are missing and the app has not been updated since the exit. Avoid attributing historical crashes to a newer app version.

changelog

4555c88

romtsn changed the title ~~fix(android): Backfill exit options when app is unchanged~~ fix(android): Backfill pre-init ANR and native crash metadata Jul 15, 2026

romtsn marked this pull request as ready for review July 15, 2026 07:58

romtsn requested review from 0xadam-brown, adinauer, markushi and runningcode as code owners July 15, 2026 07:58

cursor Bot reviewed Jul 15, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/ApplicationExitInfoEventProcessor.java Outdated

sentry Bot reviewed Jul 15, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/ApplicationExitInfoEventProcessor.java Outdated

romtsn and others added 2 commits July 15, 2026 11:22

fix(android): Backfill app context for historical exits

777c833

Populate app version and build for historical ANR and native crash events when the current package metadata is safe to use. Co-Authored-By: Codex <noreply@openai.com>

fix(android): Limit historical app metadata backfill

9e84ef4

Backfill only app version and build for historical exits. Avoid attaching current localized app names, identifiers, or split APK state to older events. Co-Authored-By: Codex <noreply@openai.com>

markushi reviewed Jul 16, 2026

View reviewed changes

fix(android): Reject unknown exit timestamps

e017d22

Do not use current SDK options when an exit timestamp is unavailable because an intervening app update cannot be ruled out. Co-Authored-By: Codex <noreply@openai.com>

cursor Bot reviewed Jul 16, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/ApplicationExitInfoEventProcessor.java Outdated

markushi approved these changes Jul 16, 2026

View reviewed changes

romtsn and others added 2 commits July 16, 2026 11:11

cursor Bot reviewed Jul 16, 2026

View reviewed changes

docs(android): Explain options cache marker ordering

a7436f4

Document why the generation observer uses its release callback only after the options cache has been fully persisted. Co-Authored-By: Codex <noreply@openai.com>

cursor Bot reviewed Jul 16, 2026

View reviewed changes

	final PackageInfo packageInfo = ContextUtils.getPackageInfo(context, buildInfoProvider);
	final @Nullable PackageInfo packageInfo = ContextUtils.getPackageInfo(context, buildInfoProvider);

	App app = event.getContexts().getApp();
	@Nullable App app = event.getContexts().getApp();

	String dist = PersistingOptionsObserver.read(options, DIST_FILENAME, String.class);
	@Nullable String dist = PersistingOptionsObserver.read(options, DIST_FILENAME, String.class);

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📜 Description

💡 Motivation and Context

💚 How did you test it?

📝 Checklist

🔮 Next steps

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sentry Bot commented Jul 14, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

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📲 Install Builds

Android

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Performance metrics 🚀

Baseline results on branch: main

Startup times

App size

Previous results on branch: romtsn/fix/validate-app-update-timestamp

Startup times

App size

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Stale cache used across updates

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Stale proguard with current release

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romtsn commented Jul 14, 2026 •

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