A PayloadScoreQuery that wraps another PayloadScoreQuery (directly or through a same-field FieldMaskingSpanQuery) ignores every payload and scores each hit 1.0 with includeSpanScore=false, and with includeSpanScore=true (the 3-argument constructor's default) fails every search with an AssertionError (-ea) or NullPointerException (-da), because the outer weight borrows the inner PayloadSpanWeight's SimScorer, which is null (since 5.3.0, LUCENE-6706)

Finding LFV-834Area: queries / payloads (PayloadScoreQuery.PayloadSpanWeight SimScorer source; SpanScorer null-SimScorer early return)Priority: lowImpact: silent wrong resultsNovelty: new

Finding page for LFV-834

AI-assisted finding, confirmed by automated checks, not yet triaged by a human Lucene committer. This site files nothing upstream.

What it shows

Wrap a PayloadScoreQuery in another one, for example PayloadScoreQuery(PayloadScoreQuery(SpanTermQuery(f:x), Sum, FLOAT_DECODER, false), Max, FLOAT_DECODER, false), over two documents whose token x carries the payloads 3 and 5. You expect the outer payload function to see those payloads and score the documents 3.0 and 5.0, as PayloadScoreQuery(SpanTermQuery(f:x), Max, FLOAT_DECODER, false) does, because a PayloadScoreQuery's spans are those of the query it wraps. Instead both hits score 1.0, the function's value for 'no payloads seen', and the same query built with the 3-argument constructor (includeSpanScore=true) makes IndexSearcher.search throw an AssertionError ('PayloadSpanScorer has a null docScorer!') with -ea or a NullPointerException with -da.

The test shows that a PayloadScoreQuery that wraps another PayloadScoreQuery ignores the payloads (includeSpanScore=false), because the outer weight borrows the inner weight's null SimScorer.

Expected vs actual

Expected: score 3.0 for the one document whose token x has payload 3, as the non-nested query gives. Actual (-ea and -da): 1.0, the no-payload score.

Files

• src/org/apache/lucene/queries/payloads/TestNestedPayloadScoreQuery.java (JUnit test)

Run it

• Tested on Lucene main e1faeba08bde (2026-11-02): still reproduces.
• Tested on Lucene main 645d4fe14a20 (2026-10-28): reproduced.
• Recorded outcome of run 1 on Lucene main 645d4fe14a20: 1 test(s) run, 1 failed.
• How to read the outcome: a failing test is the finding reproducing (the failure message states expected against actual).
• Seeds: a rerun with the same seed replays the same random choices. Assertions off (-da -dsa -Dtests.asserts=false) is the production-like setting.

# Lucene checkout at the tested commit, built with: ./gradlew --no-daemon assemble   (JDK 25)
LUCENE=/path/to/lucene; V=12.0.0-SNAPSHOT
CP=$LUCENE/lucene/core/build/libs/lucene-core-$V.jar
CP=$CP:$LUCENE/lucene/codecs/build/libs/lucene-codecs-$V.jar
CP=$CP:$LUCENE/lucene/test-framework/build/libs/lucene-test-framework-$V.jar
CP=$CP:$LUCENE/lucene/queries/build/libs/lucene-queries-$V.jar
CP=$CP:randomizedtesting-runner-2.9.2.jar:junit-4.13.2.jar:hamcrest-3.0.jar   # test-framework dependencies (Maven Central)
CP=$CP:junit-platform-console-standalone-6.1.3.jar   # JUnit Platform console launcher (Maven Central)

javac -d classes -cp "$CP" $(find src -name '*.java')

# run 1: assertions on, seed DEADBEEF
java -ea -esa --add-modules jdk.incubator.vector --enable-native-access=ALL-UNNAMED -Dtests.seed=DEADBEEF \
     -cp "classes:$CP" org.junit.platform.console.ConsoleLauncher \
     execute --select-class org.apache.lucene.queries.payloads.TestNestedPayloadScoreQuery

Gradle alternative: copy the test into the matching module's src/test/ tree of the checkout and run ./gradlew -p lucene/<module> test --tests <class> -Ptests.seed=<seed> (add -Ptests.asserts=false for a run without assertions).

Feedback

Open an issue in lucene-ai-bug-hunt. Please do not open issues or pull requests in apache/lucene about this finding unless a Lucene committer agrees it should be filed.

Snapshot of 2026-11-04. AI-assisted; not yet triaged by a human Lucene committer. Feedback: open an issue in lucene-ai-bug-hunt.