Copy of internal report:

Steps to reproduce:

1. In XM Cloud, set the SITECORE_SPE_ELEVATION environment variable to Allow

2. Navigate to Desktop > Powershell Console

3. Run the Publish-Item command:

Publish-Item -Path master:\content\home -Target experienceedge

Actual results:

Following error occurs and publish failed:

Publish-Item : Stack is null or empty.
At line:1 char:1
+ Publish-Item -Path master:\content\home -Target experienceedge
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Publish-Item], InvalidOperationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : System.InvalidOperationException,Spe.Commands.Data.PublishItemCommand

XMC logs

Failing code - introduced to edge @01.07.2025

public virtual void Process(PublishContext context){
    // [...] logic
    if (context.Job.TryResolveOptions(new PublishLog(_log), out _, out var options))
    {
        // [...] logic
    }
    else
    {
        throw new InvalidOperationException("Failed to resolve publishing options for the job.");
    }
    // [...] logic
}

Expected results:
Publish succeeded.

Additional info:

I've been told that:

Since sitecore 6.4 the right way to initiate a publish is to use PublishManager:
https://archive.doc.sitecore.com/xp/en/SdnArchive/upload/sitecore6/64/content_api_cookbook_sc64_and_later-a4.pdf
section: 2.2 How to Publish

Also it looks like the current implementation of SpePublishManager allows parallel publish jobs (because it skips creation of standard publish jobs) which is incorrect and can cause issues on edge side.