apache/dolphinscheduler · error · ServiceException

The workflow instance is not finished

Error message

The workflow instance is not finished: {workflowInstanceState} cannot force start task instance

What it means

Thrown by TaskInstanceServiceImpl.forceTaskSuccess when the parent workflow instance is still running (its state is not a final state). Force-success is only permitted once the enclosing workflow has finished; otherwise dependent bookkeeping (e.g. forceWorkflowInstanceSuccessByTaskInstanceId) would be inconsistent. The message embeds the current workflow state so you can see why it was rejected.

Solutions

1. Wait until the workflow instance reaches a final state (SUCCESS/FAILURE/STOP/KILL) before calling force-task-success.
2. If the workflow should be stopped first, stop/kill the workflow instance, then force-success the task.
3. Poll the workflow instance state endpoint until isFinalState before retrying.
4. If you really need to modify a running workflow, use the workflow-level stop/pause operations instead.

Example fix

// before
forceSuccess(taskInstanceId); // workflow still RUNNING -> 301
// after
WorkflowInstance wf = getWorkflowInstance(taskInstanceId);
if (wf.getState().isFinalState()) {
    forceSuccess(taskInstanceId);
} else {
    stopWorkflowInstance(wf.getId());
}

WorkflowInstance wf = workflowInstanceDao.queryOptionalById(task.getWorkflowInstanceId()).orElse(null);
if (wf == null || !wf.getState().isFinalState()) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("wait for workflow to finish before force-success");
}

boolean forceSuccessAllowed(WorkflowInstance wf) { return wf != null && wf.getState() != null && wf.getState().isFinalState(); }

try {
    taskInstanceService.forceTaskSuccess(loginUser, projectCode, id);
} catch (ServiceException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().startsWith("The workflow instance is not finished")) {
        // schedule retry after workflow reaches final state
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: POSTing force-task-success for a task whose workflow instance state isRunning/isReadyPause/etc. (any non-final state such as RUNNING_EXECUTION, WAITING_THREAD, READY_STOP).

Common situations: Users try to 'unstick' a running workflow by force-succeeding one failed task; schedulers retry the call while the workflow is still active; kill is in progress so state is not yet final.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Invalid state transition" errors: "status must be X, actually Y", "already rejected/charging/uninstalled", "cannot ... while running" — what they mean when a library rejects your call — this error's family across 31 libraries.

Related errors

• 10103
• 10166
• The task instance is not under the project
• 10001
• 10001

AI-assisted analysis of apache/dolphinscheduler@02eac45a1b (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/79359acedc594973. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at dolphinscheduler-api/src/main/java/org/apache/dolphinscheduler/api/service/impl/TaskInstanceServiceImpl.java:211

     * @return the result code and msg
     */
    @Transactional
    @Override
    public void forceTaskSuccess(User loginUser, long projectCode, Integer taskInstanceId) {
        projectService.checkHasProjectWritePermissionThrowException(loginUser, projectCode);

        TaskInstance task = taskInstanceDao.queryOptionalById(taskInstanceId)
                .orElseThrow(() -> new ServiceException(Status.TASK_INSTANCE_NOT_FOUND));

        if (task.getProjectCode() != projectCode) {
            throw new ServiceException("The task instance is not under the project: " + projectCode);
        }

        WorkflowInstance workflowInstance = workflowInstanceDao.queryOptionalById(task.getWorkflowInstanceId())
                .orElseThrow(
                        () -> new ServiceException(Status.WORKFLOW_INSTANCE_NOT_EXIST, task.getWorkflowInstanceId()));
        if (!workflowInstance.getState().isFinalState()) {
            throw new ServiceException("The workflow instance is not finished: " + workflowInstance.getState()
                    + " cannot force start task instance");
        }

        // check whether the task instance state type is failure or cancel
        if (!task.getState().isFailure() && !task.getState().isKill()) {
            throw new ServiceException(Status.TASK_INSTANCE_STATE_OPERATION_ERROR, taskInstanceId, task.getState());
        }

        // change the state of the task instance
        task.setState(TaskExecutionStatus.FORCED_SUCCESS);
        task.setEndTime(new Date());
        boolean changed = taskInstanceDao.updateById(task);
        if (!changed) {
            throw new ServiceException(Status.FORCE_TASK_SUCCESS_ERROR);
        }
        processService.forceWorkflowInstanceSuccessByTaskInstanceId(task);
        log.info("Force success task instance id: {} success", taskInstanceId);
    }

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