"nil can't be coerced into Integer" when assign variable (only) - ruby-on-rails

Question

ruby '2.7.3'
rails (6.1.4.1)
Looks strange:
When I query some (some specific) rows in DB using activerecord and try to assign it to a variable, it raises "nil can't be coerced into Integer"
But when I don't try to assign it to a variable, it works:
Recipient.find(45638)
=> #<Recipient id: 45638, company_id: 7, callout_id: 18, phone: "***", created_at: "2022-02-14 02:14:04.816032000 +0000", updated_at: "2022-02-15 06:50:37.828979000 +0000", payload: {"first_name"=>"", "last_name"=>"", "lead_id"=>"388014"}, started_at: nil, finished_at: 1644907333994, call_duration: 95, call_result: nil, report_data: {"Recording"=>"...", "UF_CRM_1601886091616"=>"76"}, job_status: "longCallWithResult", job_id: "2105242339", aasm_state: "finished", attempts: 1, tag: "...", tag_payload: {}, code: "37cca71006817c4f9e2e172d4e0afe80", schedule_at: "2022-02-11 09:07:47.000000000 +0000", synced_to_external_crm: false>
2.7.3 :035 > recipient = Recipient.find(45638)
Traceback (most recent call last):
TypeError (nil can't be coerced into Integer)
It happens only with specific rows in DB. Not only with model object, but with ActivRecord::Relation objects also:
Works:
recipients = Recipient.where(callout_id: 18).where('schedule_at IS NULL OR schedule_at <= ?', DateTime.current).limit(1).offset(5)
=> #<ActiveRecord::Relation [#<Recipient id: 45640, company_id: 7, callout_id: 18, phone: "***", created_at: "2022-02-14 04:59:10.175701000 +0000", updated_at: "2022-02-15 06:50:38.224724000 +0000", payload: {"firs...
Doesn't work:
2.7.3 :045 > recipients = Recipient.where(callout_id: 18).where('schedule_at IS NULL OR schedule_at <= ?', DateTime.current).limit(1).offset(6)
Traceback (most recent call last):
TypeError (nil can't be coerced into Integer)
Same issue happens with different models:
Model 'Callout':
2.7.3 :001 > callout = Callout.find 18
=> #<Callout id: 18, company_id: 7, name: "***", token: [FILTERED], created_at: "2021-12-19 13:50:51.383907000 +0000", updated_at: "2022-02-08 09:19:20.153542000 +0000", auto_queue: true>
2.7.3 :002 > callout = Callout.find 17
Traceback (most recent call last):
TypeError (nil can't be coerced into Integer)
2.7.3 :003 > Callout.find 17
=> #<Callout id: 17, company_id: 1, name: "***", token: [FILTERED], created_at: "2021-11-27 11:07:30.927895000 +0000", updated_at: "2022-02-14 07:59:24.154910000 +0000", auto_queue: false>
2.7.3 :004 > Callout.find 18
=> #<Callout id: 18, company_id: 7, name: "***", token: [FILTERED], created_at: "2021-12-19 13:50:51.383907000 +0000", updated_at: "2022-02-08 09:19:20.153542000 +0000", auto_queue: true>
Model 'Company':
2.7.3 :005 > Company.find 7
=> #<Company id: 7, name: "***", created_at: "2021-12-19 13:39:12.045709000 +0000", updated_at: "2021-12-19 13:39:12.045709000 +0000", balance: 0, api_token: [FILTERED]>
2.7.3 :006 > c = Company.find 7
=> #<Company id: 7, name: "***", created_at: "2021-12-19 13:39:12.045709000 +0000", updated_at: "2021-12-19 13:39:12.045709000 +0000", balance: 0, api_token: [FILTERED]>
2.7.3 :008 > Company.find 1
=> #<Company id: 1, name: "***", created_at: "2021-10-22 12:23:19.831733000 +0000", updated_at: "2021-12-01 20:15:04.464389000 +0000", balance: 0, api_token: [FILTERED]>
2.7.3 :007 > c = Company.find 1
Traceback (most recent call last):
TypeError (nil can't be coerced into Integer)
Models source code:
class Recipient < ApplicationRecord
validates :phone, presence: true, uniqueness: { scope: :callout_id }
validates :code, presence: true, uniqueness: true
belongs_to :company
belongs_to :callout
before_validation :generate_code
private
# Generates unique code for every recipient
# because phone column can't be unique
def generate_code
if self.code.nil?
self.code = Recipient.make_code self.phone, self.callout_id, self.payload
end
end
end
class Callout < ApplicationRecord
belongs_to :company
has_many :recipients, dependent: :destroy
validates :company_id, presence: true
validates :name, presence: true
scope :auto_queue, -> { where(auto_queue: true ) }
end
class Company < ApplicationRecord
before_validation :generate_token!
has_many :callouts, dependent: :destroy
has_many :recipients, dependent: :destroy
has_many :user_companies, dependent: :destroy
has_many :users, through: :user_companies
has_many :invoices, dependent: :destroy
has_many :balance_logs, dependent: :destroy
validates :name, presence: true
def generate_token!
if api_token.nil?
update! api_token: SecureRandom.hex
end
end
end

Answer 1

That's related to some unexpected issue related to the use of --nomultiline or IRB.conf[:USE_MULTILINE] = false inside .irbrc file.
Similar issue with the hack
To avoid that issue, you can just skip using --nomultiline option, when launching your rails console.
bundle exec rails c -e production

Answer 2

A quick one-off solution if you mostly want --nomultiline behavior and/or just don't want to mess with configs:
x = string_with_weird_characters; nil