alibaba/spring-cloud-alibaba · error · RuntimeException

[Sentinel Starter] DataSource {dataSourceName}dataType is cu

Error message

[Sentinel Starter] DataSource {dataSourceName}dataType is custom, please set converter-class property

What it means

When a Sentinel datasource is configured with data-type 'custom', the framework expects a converter-class property naming a class that converts the raw rule payload into Sentinel rules. If converter-class is blank while data-type is custom, this RuntimeException is thrown during bean definition building. The message is missing a space between the data source name and 'dataType' (a cosmetic defect in the source).

Source

Thrown at spring-cloud-alibaba-starters/spring-cloud-starter-alibaba-sentinel/src/main/java/com/alibaba/cloud/sentinel/custom/SentinelDataSourceHandler.java:145

		propertyMap.put(CONVERTER_CLASS_FIELD, dataSourceProperties.getConverterClass());
		propertyMap.put(DATA_TYPE_FIELD, dataSourceProperties.getDataType());

		BeanDefinitionBuilder builder = BeanDefinitionBuilder
				.genericBeanDefinition(dataSourceProperties.getFactoryBeanName());

		propertyMap.forEach((propertyName, propertyValue) -> {
			Field field = ReflectionUtils.findField(dataSourceProperties.getClass(),
					propertyName);
			if (null == field) {
				return;
			}
			if (DATA_TYPE_FIELD.equals(propertyName)) {
				String dataType = StringUtils.trimAllWhitespace(propertyValue.toString());
				if (CUSTOM_DATA_TYPE.equals(dataType)) {
					try {
						if (!StringUtils
								.hasLength(dataSourceProperties.getConverterClass())) {
							throw new RuntimeException("[Sentinel Starter] DataSource "
									+ dataSourceName
									+ "dataType is custom, please set converter-class "
									+ "property");
						}
						// construct custom Converter with 'converterClass'
						// configuration and register
						String customConvertBeanName = "sentinel-"
								+ dataSourceProperties.getConverterClass();
						if (!this.beanFactory.containsBean(customConvertBeanName)) {
							this.beanFactory.registerBeanDefinition(customConvertBeanName,
									BeanDefinitionBuilder
											.genericBeanDefinition(
													Class.forName(dataSourceProperties
															.getConverterClass()))
											.getBeanDefinition());
						}
						builder.addPropertyReference("converter", customConvertBeanName);
					}

View on GitHub (pinned to 115d590110)

Solutions

1. Set converter-class to a fully-qualified class implementing the Sentinel Converter, e.g. spring.cloud.sentinel.datasource.xxx.converter-class=com.example.MyConverter.
2. If you do not need a custom converter, use a built-in data-type such as 'json' or 'xml'.
3. Double-check the property key spelling matches the relaxed-binding name expected by the properties object.

Example fix

# before
spring.cloud.sentinel.datasource.ds1.data-type=custom
# after
spring.cloud.sentinel.datasource.ds1.data-type=custom
spring.cloud.sentinel.datasource.ds1.converter-class=com.example.MyRuleConverter

void validateCustomType(String dataType, String converterClass) {
  if ("custom".equals(dataType) && (converterClass == null || converterClass.isBlank()))
    throw new IllegalStateException("data-type=custom requires converter-class");
}

When it happens

Trigger: Setting spring.cloud.sentinel.datasource.xxx.data-type=custom without spring.cloud.sentinel.datasource.xxx.converter-class. Removing the converter-class line after switching to a custom data type.

Common situations: Switching from json/xml to a custom deserializer and forgetting the converter class. Typo in the converter-class property key so it is read as blank.

Related errors

• [Sentinel Starter] DataSource {dataSourceName} handle {class
• [Sentinel Starter] DataSource {dataSourceName} dataType: {pr
• ConsulDataSource server-host is empty
• ConsulDataSource ruleKey can not be empty
• [Sentinel Starter] DataSource {} file cannot be null

AI-assisted analysis of alibaba/spring-cloud-alibaba@115d590110 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7f844232f7a86edd. Report an issue: GitHub.