[Godot 4.3] Unable to load a project with addons/plugins

[IAmBaguette]

For those experiencing the same problem, see the Solution. It worked for me and might work for others too.

Issue description

I’m using the GitLab CI setup with self-hosted GitLab runners, and I’ve been using the barichello/godot-ci:4.3 image since the Godot 4.3 update. Before that, I used the 4.2.2 image for a few months without issues. Everything imports and exports fine as long as no plugins are enabled.

Please note, my repository organization is a bit different. The project is at the root of the repository, not within a folder. I’ve made a few changes to the yaml file to get it working:

# .gitlab-ci.yml
image: barichello/godot-ci:4.3

# Cache imported assets between runs
cache:
  key: dependencies
  paths:
  - .godot/imported/

stages:
  - setup
  - export

variables:
  EXPORT_NAME: "template"
  WINDOWS_PLATFORM_EXPORT_NAME: "Windows Desktop"

# Open the editor to import assets in case the cache was empty or outdated
import-assets:
  stage: setup
  script:
  - godot --headless --verbose --import

windows:
  stage: export
  script:
  - mkdir -v -p .build/windows
  - godot --headless --verbose --export-release "$WINDOWS_PLATFORM_EXPORT_NAME" ".build/windows/$EXPORT_NAME.exe"
  artifacts:
    name: "$EXPORT_NAME-$CI_JOB_NAME"
    paths:
      - .build/windows

The import-assets step from the .gitlab-ci.yml file fails whenever the project has a plugin enabled:

... (omitted for brevity)
EditorSettings: Save OK!
Unloading addon: res://addons/myplugin/plugin.cfg
Unloading addon: res://addons/myplugin/plugin.cfg
================================================================
handle_crash: Program crashed with signal 11
Engine version: Godot Engine v4.3.stable.official (77dcf97d82cbfe4e4615475fa52ca03da645dbd8)
Dumping the backtrace. Please include this when reporting the bug to the project developer.
ERROR: FATAL: Index p_index = 1 is out of bounds (size() = 0).
   at: get (./core/templates/cowdata.h:205)
/usr/bin/bash: line 145:    14 Illegal instruction     (core dumped) godot --headless --verbose --editor --quit

I’ve tested with shared runners and encountered the same issue. However, I tested a similar project in Godot 4.2.2 with self-hosted runners and shared runners, and it works fine with a plugin enabled

Steps to reproduce

1. Push the attached project to a new repository.
2. Run CI

Minimal reproduction project (MRP)

• template-4.3.zip
• template-4.2.2.zip

Solution

After many hours, I found a solution that worked for me. It might not work for everyone, but changing the import-assets command from godot --headless --verbose --editor --quit to godot --headless --verbose --import resolved my issue.

[Calinou]

--import is new in 4.3. It supersedes almost all uses of --editor --quit.