---
id: 23
title: 23 Fix AdminNotificationService Carbon TypeError Masking Exceptions
status: Done
date: 2026-09-28
parent: null
---

## Description

Investigating a client report of a missing workshop-registration email led to discovering a real
bug: `App\Services\AdminNotificationService::notifyError()` throws its own `TypeError` whenever
it runs, which **masks the original exception** it was trying to report and prevents the admin
notification from ever being sent. Root cause: `config('libra.notifications.throttle_minutes', 15)`
resolves to `env('ERROR_NOTIFICATION_THROTTLE_MINUTES', 15)` (see `config/libra.php` line 14).
Production's `.env` has `ERROR_NOTIFICATION_THROTTLE_MINUTES=15` set — Laravel's `env()` helper
does not cast a numeric-looking string to an int, so this returns the **string** `"15"`, not the
int `15`. That string is then passed to `now()->addMinutes($throttleMinutes)` in
`AdminNotificationService::notifyError()` (line 32), and Carbon 3.11 (this project's installed
version, per `composer.lock`) requires `addMinutes()`'s argument to be `int|float` — passing a
string throws `TypeError: Carbon\Carbon::rawAddUnit(): Argument #3 ($value) must be of type
int|float, string given`.

This is a live production bug, confirmed via `storage/logs/laravel.log` on h1
(`/home/libra/public_html/storage/logs/laravel.log`, entries timestamped `2026-09-27 21:35:26`
and `21:40:31`) — every exception that reaches `Handler->report()` and is judged
notify-worthy by `AdminNotificationService::shouldNotifyAdmin()` (e.g. any
`Symfony\Component\Mailer\Exception\TransportExceptionInterface`, or a critical
`QueryException`) currently crashes this method instead of sending the notification, and the
crash happens **before** `Cache::put()` on line 32 ever executes, so the throttle-dedup cache key
is never written — meaning this crash also can't self-heal or throttle, it fires on every single
qualifying exception, indefinitely, until fixed.

**File to modify:** `app/Services/AdminNotificationService.php`

Current (lines 25-32):
```php
        $errorKey = $this->getErrorKey($exception);
        $throttleMinutes = config('libra.notifications.throttle_minutes', 15);

        if (Cache::has($errorKey)) {
            return;
        }

        Cache::put($errorKey, true, now()->addMinutes($throttleMinutes));
```

Change to cast the config value to an int before use:
```php
        $errorKey = $this->getErrorKey($exception);
        $throttleMinutes = (int) config('libra.notifications.throttle_minutes', 15);

        if (Cache::has($errorKey)) {
            return;
        }

        Cache::put($errorKey, true, now()->addMinutes($throttleMinutes));
```

This is the only line that changes. No other method, no other file.

## Acceptance Criteria

- [x] `app/Services/AdminNotificationService.php`'s `$throttleMinutes` assignment casts the config
      value with `(int)`
- [x] A test constructs `AdminNotificationService` and calls `notifyError()` with a throwable that
      makes `shouldNotifyAdmin()` return true (e.g. a mock/stub implementing
      `Symfony\Component\Mailer\Exception\TransportExceptionInterface`, or simply an instance of a
      class implementing `App\Contracts\ShouldNotifyAdmin`), with
      `config(['libra.notifications.throttle_minutes' => '15'])` explicitly set as a **string** in
      the test (reproducing production's actual condition — `env()` never returns a string this
      way in tests, so it must be set explicitly to catch this class of bug) — the call completes
      without throwing, and a mail notification is sent (assert via `Notification::fake()` /
      `Mail::fake()` as appropriate for however `SystemErrorNotification` delivers)
- [x] The same test, run against the **old** code (temporarily, to confirm the test actually
      catches the bug) throws a `TypeError` — state in the completion report that this was
      confirmed, per this task's RED step

## QA Verification (2026-09-28)

All 3 acceptance criteria verified directly:
1. Confirmed `(int)` cast present at `app/Services/AdminNotificationService.php:26`.
2. Ran `tests/Unit/Services/AdminNotificationServiceTest.php`'s new test
   (`does not throw and still sends notification when throttle_minutes config is a string`) —
   passed.
3. Temporarily removed the `(int)` cast, re-ran the same test — reproduced the exact TypeError
   (`Carbon\Carbon::rawAddUnit(): Argument #3 ($value) must be of type int|float, string given`),
   confirming RED. Restored the `(int)` cast. Full suite re-run: 17/17 passed. `git diff` confirms
   only the single intended line differs from the pre-fix version.

## Sub-tasks

None.