Hi matchers have changed in version 4.6.1

MatchingRuleDefinition.parseMatchingRuleDefinition("matching(equalTo, '\u0000\u0001\u0002\u0003')")

produces in 4.6.0

Ok(value=MatchingRuleDefinition(value=\u0000\u0001\u0002\u0003, valueType=Unknown, rules=[A(value=<http://au.com|au.com>.dius.pact.core.model.matchingrules.EqualsMatcher@192d74fb)], generator=null))

and in 4.6.1

Ok(value=MatchingRuleDefinition(value=, valueType=Unknown, rules=[A(value=<http://au.com|au.com>.dius.pact.core.model.matchingrules.EqualsMatcher@295eaa7c)], generator=null))

is the change intentional?

Yes, in 4.6.0 the string escaped where not processed correctly, so the value was set verbatim. For instance,

'\''

would fail

Has this caused a break to the plugin, or failing an assertion in a test that checked the defined matcher?

The tests for the plugin are failing for Avro FIXED fields