Tencent/tinker · error · TinkerRuntimeException

patchReporter must not be null.

Error message

patchReporter must not be null.

What it means

Thrown by Tinker.Builder.patchReporter when the argument is null. The PatchReporter receives all patch-apply (install) callbacks (onPatchResult, onPatchServiceStart, etc.), so a null value would break patch feedback. Tinker fails fast instead of deferring the failure to patch time.

Source

Thrown at tinker-android/tinker-android-lib/src/main/java/com/tencent/tinker/lib/tinker/Tinker.java:397

            }
            this.tinkerLoadVerifyFlag = verifyMd5WhenLoad;
            return this;
        }

        public Builder loadReport(LoadReporter loadReporter) {
            if (loadReporter == null) {
                throw new TinkerRuntimeException("loadReporter must not be null.");
            }
            if (this.loadReporter != null) {
                throw new TinkerRuntimeException("loadReporter is already set.");
            }
            this.loadReporter = loadReporter;
            return this;
        }

        public Builder patchReporter(PatchReporter patchReporter) {
            if (patchReporter == null) {
                throw new TinkerRuntimeException("patchReporter must not be null.");
            }
            if (this.patchReporter != null) {
                throw new TinkerRuntimeException("patchReporter is already set.");
            }
            this.patchReporter = patchReporter;
            return this;
        }

        public Builder listener(PatchListener listener) {
            if (listener == null) {
                throw new TinkerRuntimeException("listener must not be null.");
            }
            if (this.listener != null) {
                throw new TinkerRuntimeException("listener is already set.");
            }
            this.listener = listener;
            return this;
        }

View on GitHub (pinned to 1b7ea02c23)

Solutions

1. Pass a non-null PatchReporter, e.g. new DefaultPatchReporter(context), in builder.patchReporter(...).
2. If using DI, verify the PatchReporter binding is present and not declared @Nullable.
3. Add a unit test asserting the builder receives non-null reporters before Tinker.install runs.

Example fix

// before
builder.patchReporter(null);

// after
builder.patchReporter(new DefaultPatchReporter(context));

PatchReporter reporter = createPatchReporter(context); // factory never returns null
if (reporter == null) { throw new IllegalStateException("PatchReporter binding missing"); }
builder.patchReport(reporter);

When it happens

Trigger: Calling builder.patchReporter(null), usually because a field or constructor parameter intended to hold the PatchReporter was never initialized, or a refactor changed a method signature to return null.

Common situations: Boilerplate copied from the Tinker sample where the reporter instantiation line was deleted, Dagger/dependency-injection providing an unbound @Nullable PatchReporter, or passing a reporter that a factory method returns null for in debug builds.

Related errors

• patchReporter is already set.
• listener must not be null.
• Context must not be null.
• tinkerFlag is already set.
• tinkerLoadVerifyFlag must not be null.

AI-assisted analysis of Tencent/tinker@1b7ea02c23 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0d2c6e2b809349b9. Report an issue: GitHub.