alibaba/Sentinel · error · IllegalArgumentException

Bad argument: serverAddr=[%s], authInfos=[%s], groupId=[%s],

Error message

Bad argument: serverAddr=[%s], authInfos=[%s], groupId=[%s], dataId=[%s]

What it means

Thrown by the auth-enabled ZookeeperDataSource constructor when serverAddr, groupId, or dataId is blank. This overload additionally takes a List<AuthInfo> for digest auth; the validation checks only the three identifiers (authInfos may legitimately be null/empty), and the message echoes authInfos for diagnosability.

Source

Thrown at sentinel-extension/sentinel-datasource-zookeeper/src/main/java/com/alibaba/csp/sentinel/datasource/zookeeper/ZookeeperDataSource.java:80

    public ZookeeperDataSource(final String serverAddr, final String groupId, final String dataId,
                               Converter<String, T> parser) {
        super(parser);
        if (StringUtil.isBlank(serverAddr) || StringUtil.isBlank(groupId) || StringUtil.isBlank(dataId)) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException(String.format("Bad argument: serverAddr=[%s], groupId=[%s], dataId=[%s]", serverAddr, groupId, dataId));
        }
        this.path = getPath(groupId, dataId);

        init(serverAddr, null);
    }

    /**
     * This constructor adds authentication information.
     */
    public ZookeeperDataSource(final String serverAddr, final List<AuthInfo> authInfos, final String groupId, final String dataId,
                               Converter<String, T> parser) {
        super(parser);
        if (StringUtil.isBlank(serverAddr) || StringUtil.isBlank(groupId) || StringUtil.isBlank(dataId)) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException(String.format("Bad argument: serverAddr=[%s], authInfos=[%s], groupId=[%s], dataId=[%s]", serverAddr, authInfos, groupId, dataId));
        }
        this.path = getPath(groupId, dataId);

        init(serverAddr, authInfos);
    }

    private void init(final String serverAddr, final List<AuthInfo> authInfos) {
        initZookeeperListener(serverAddr, authInfos);
        loadInitialConfig();
    }

    private void loadInitialConfig() {
        try {
            T newValue = loadConfig();
            if (newValue == null) {
                RecordLog.warn("[ZookeeperDataSource] WARN: initial config is null, you may have to check your data source");
            }
            getProperty().updateValue(newValue);

View on GitHub (pinned to a3f40ba8e9)

Solutions

Supply non-blank serverAddr, groupId, and dataId (authInfos is optional for the check but should contain valid AuthInfo entries if you need auth).
Re-verify the three identifier properties after switching constructor overloads.
Fail fast on blank values in your own wiring code with the property names in the message.

Example fix

// before
new ZookeeperDataSource<>(zkAddr, auths, groupId, null, parser); // dataId blank

// after
new ZookeeperDataSource<>("zk.prod:2181", auths, "Sentinel_Group", "my-app-flow-rules", parser);

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if (StringUtil.isBlank(serverAddr) || StringUtil.isBlank(groupId) || StringUtil.isBlank(dataId)) {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("zookeeper serverAddr/groupId/dataId required (authInfos optional)");
}
new ZookeeperDataSource<>(serverAddr, authInfos, groupId, dataId, parser);

Try / catch

try {
    new ZookeeperDataSource<>(serverAddr, authInfos, groupId, dataId, parser);
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("ZooKeeper datasource misconfigured: " + serverAddr + "/" + groupId + "/" + dataId, e);
}

Prevention

When switching constructor overloads (e.g. adding auth), re-verify all identifier properties.
Validate AuthInfo entries separately if the cluster requires digest auth.

When it happens

Trigger: new ZookeeperDataSource(serverAddr, authInfos, groupId, dataId, parser) with any of serverAddr/groupId/dataId blank — same root causes as the non-auth overload (unresolved placeholders, missing profile properties).

Common situations: Migrating from the 4-arg constructor to add ZooKeeper digest auth and a property goes missing in the refactor; environments where the groupId/dataId keys are defined only for the non-auth deployment.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of alibaba/Sentinel@a3f40ba8e9 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/efe3569f3b44e025. Report an issue: GitHub.