SonarSource/sonarqube · error · IllegalArgumentException

Invalid appId;

Error message

Invalid appId; 

What it means

GithubGlobalSettingsValidator.buildConfiguration parses the GitHub App ID string into a long. If the value is present but not a valid number, this IllegalArgumentException is thrown including the NumberFormatException message. It means the configured appId is malformed.

Source

Thrown at server/sonar-alm-client/src/main/java/org/sonar/alm/client/github/GithubGlobalSettingsValidator.java:96

   * (empty when all {@code requiredPermissions} are granted) instead of throwing when some are missing — for callers
   * that need the structured result (SONAR-31626). Still throws {@link IllegalArgumentException} on invalid
   * configuration, authentication or connectivity failures.
   */
  public List<String> findMissingPermissions(AlmSettingDto almSettingDto, Map<String, String> requiredPermissions) {
    GithubAppConfiguration configuration = buildConfiguration(almSettingDto.getAppId(), almSettingDto.getClientId(),
      almSettingDto.getClientSecret(), almSettingDto.getPrivateKey(), almSettingDto.getUrl());

    githubApplicationClient.checkApiEndpoint(configuration);
    return githubApplicationClient.findMissingAppPermissions(configuration, requiredPermissions);
  }

  private GithubAppConfiguration buildConfiguration(@Nullable String applicationId, @Nullable String clientId, String clientSecret, String privateKey,
    @Nullable String url) {
    long appId;
    try {
      appId = Long.parseLong(Optional.ofNullable(applicationId).orElseThrow(() -> new IllegalArgumentException("Missing appId")));
    } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
      throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid appId; " + e.getMessage());
    }
    if (isBlank(clientId)) {
      throw new IllegalArgumentException("Missing Client Id");
    }
    if (isBlank(getDecryptedSettingValue(clientSecret))) {
      throw new IllegalArgumentException("Missing Client Secret");
    }
    return new GithubAppConfiguration(appId, getDecryptedSettingValue(privateKey), url);
  }

  private String getDecryptedSettingValue(String setting) {
    if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(setting) && encryption.isEncrypted(setting)) {
      return encryption.decrypt(setting);
    }
    return setting;
  }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 184c821202)

Solutions

1. Copy the numeric App ID from GitHub App settings page (About section) — not the Client ID.
2. Trim whitespace and remove any non-numeric characters from the appId setting.
3. Re-save the GitHub DevOps platform configuration in SonarQube with the corrected appId.
4. Verify via the GitHub API: GET /apps/{app-id} should resolve your App.

Example fix

// before
appId = "Iv1.8f2a9c1b"; // Client ID pasted by mistake
// after
appId = "123456"; // numeric App ID from App settings > About

// client-side guard before saving settings
function isValidAppId(v) { return v != null && /^\d+$/.test(v.trim()); }
if (!isValidAppId(applicationId)) throw new Error("appId must be numeric (see GitHub App settings > About)");

function isNumericAppId(v) { return typeof v === 'string' && /^\d+$/.test(v.trim()); }

try { validator.configuration(appId, clientId, secret, key, url); } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) { if (e.getMessage().startsWith("Invalid appId")) { showFieldError("appId", "Enter the numeric App ID from GitHub App settings"); } throw e; }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling configuration(...) with an applicationId like 'Iv1.abc123', '12345abc', a Client ID pasted into the App ID field, or extra whitespace/characters.

Common situations: Developers confuse the GitHub App ID (numeric, from App settings > About) with the Client ID (starts with Iv1. or Ov23li), copy/paste including invisible characters, or leave a placeholder text in the field.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Invalid ... format", "must be in format X", "does not look like a ..." — invalid argument format errors across CLI tools and libraries — this error's family across 17 libraries.

Related errors

• Missing URL
• Invalid URL, %s
• Failed to check permissions with Github, check the configura
• Missing Client Id
• Missing Client Secret

AI-assisted analysis of SonarSource/sonarqube@184c821202 (2026-09-09). Data as JSON: /api/errors/56801485bf6b4516. Report an issue: GitHub.