apache/maven · warning · InvalidVersionSpecificationException

Unbounded range: {}

Error message

Unbounded range: {}

What it means

The invoked CLI option is annotated as deprecated in CLIManager (for example -llr for Maven 2 legacy local repository behavior, or the -gs/-gt alternate-path options). Maven prints the flag with its since-version and reason; when the deprecation description starts with 'UNSUPPORTED:' the message is upgraded to an error and Maven exits with code 1 via ExitException.

Source

Thrown at compat/maven-artifact/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/versioning/VersionRange.java:123

        List<Restriction> restrictions = new ArrayList<>();
        String process = spec;
        ArtifactVersion version = null;
        ArtifactVersion upperBound = null;
        ArtifactVersion lowerBound = null;

        while (process.startsWith("[") || process.startsWith("(")) {
            int index1 = process.indexOf(')');
            int index2 = process.indexOf(']');

            int index = index2;
            if (index2 < 0 || index1 < index2) {
                if (index1 >= 0) {
                    index = index1;
                }
            }

            if (index < 0) {
                throw new InvalidVersionSpecificationException("Unbounded range: " + spec);
            }

            Restriction restriction = parseRestriction(process.substring(0, index + 1));
            if (lowerBound == null) {
                lowerBound = restriction.getLowerBound();
            }
            if (upperBound != null) {
                if (restriction.getLowerBound() == null
                        || restriction.getLowerBound().compareTo(upperBound) < 0) {
                    throw new InvalidVersionSpecificationException("Ranges overlap: " + spec);
                }
            }
            restrictions.add(restriction);
            upperBound = restriction.getUpperBound();

            process = process.substring(index + 1).trim();

            if (process.startsWith(",")) {

View on GitHub (pinned to e4093d4e12)

Solutions

1. Drop the flag from scripts; mvn -h lists current deprecations and their replacements
2. Adopt the supported replacement named in the deprecation description
3. Temporarily pin the previous Maven version via the wrapper while migrating scripts
4. Grep CI pipelines for the deprecated flag so upgrades fail fast instead of at build time

Example fix

# before
mvn -llr clean install
# after: deprecated Maven 2 legacy local repository flag removed
mvn clean install

# review current deprecations and cross-check your CI scripts before upgrading Maven
mvn -h 2>&1 | grep -i -B1 -A1 deprecated

When it happens

Trigger: Passing a deprecated flag on the command line; the check runs over every option present in the parsed command line before the build starts.

Common situations: CI scripts pinned to old Maven versions run against a newer Maven; wrapper distributions upgraded without updating pipelines; copy-pasted mvn invocations carrying legacy flags.

Related errors

• Ranges overlap: {}
• Range defies version ordering: {}
• The version cannot be empty.
• Only fully-qualified sets allowed in multiple set scenario:
• Single version must be surrounded by []: {}

AI-assisted analysis of apache/maven@e4093d4e12 (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/02a7df383c1d4bee. Report an issue: GitHub.