Cron and smartgroups fail when SearchKit is unable to lookup a saved search
After having corrected a previous issue with SearchKit unique to a specific instance, the site experienced cron and smartgroup failures. The resulting error presented:
Argument 1 passed to CRM_Contact_BAO_GroupContactCache::getQueryObjectSQL() must be of the type array, null given, called in /home/site/public_html/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Contact/BAO/GroupContactCache.php on line 814
After troubleshooting, it was determined that SearchKit was looking for a smartgroup/saved search that no longer existed. As a result, crons failed entirely and existing smart group contacts would not display properly. New smart groups and related functionality functioned as expected.
Ideally, SearchKit would not hang up in this situation and/or cause issues with other areas of the system.