# SFC module fails to start with empty .proto files present

**URL:** <https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/sfc-module-fails-to-start-with-empty-proto-files-present/114038>\
**Category:** Ignition\
**Created:** [February 18, 2026, 5:42pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/sfc-module-fails-to-start-with-empty-proto-files-present/114038 "2026-02-18T17:42:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
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**Author:** ![avaughn](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/avaughn/32/38972_2.png) [@avaughn](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/avaughn)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 6:03pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/sfc-module-fails-to-start-with-empty-proto-files-present/114038/2 "2026-02-18T18:03:58Z")

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This will be fixed in 8.3.5 and is currently available in the 8.3.5 nightly.

The likely cause for the empty file is that there’s something in the chart that’s failing to serialize properly which is preventing the chart from persisting to disk. It would be worth tracking that down to prevent the empty files in the first place. Do you have logs from the shutdown?

> [@Nightly 8.3 Changelogs - 2026 and beyond](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/nightly-8-3-changelogs-2026-and-beyond/113010/24):
>
> Nightly Changelog: 8.3.5\*-b20260206 Data & Logic SFC IGN-15189: Empty .proto file in SFC can create class cast exception during module startup Fixed a problem with empty persisted SFC chart files causing the SFC module to fault.

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