apache/seatunnel · error · MongodbConnectorException

ILLEGAL_ARGUMENT

ILLEGAL_ARGUMENT

Error message

MongoDB CDC data change record has no value: 

What it means

MongodbRecordUtils.getOperationType reads the Debezium-style SourceRecord's value Struct to determine the change operation. If the record's value is null it cannot classify the change and throws ILLEGAL_ARGUMENT — a null value normally means a tombstone, which this connector does not treat as a valid change event.

Source

Thrown at seatunnel-connectors-v2/connector-cdc/connector-cdc-mongodb/src/main/java/org/apache/seatunnel/connectors/seatunnel/cdc/mongodb/utils/MongodbRecordUtils.java:82

    /** Check the sourceRecord is snapshot record. */
    public static boolean isSnapshotRecord(SourceRecord sourceRecord) {
        return "true".equals(getOffsetValue(sourceRecord, COPY_KEY_FIELD));
    }

    /** Check the sourceRecord is heartbeat event. */
    public static boolean isHeartbeatEvent(SourceRecord sourceRecord) {
        return "true".equals(getOffsetValue(sourceRecord, HEARTBEAT_KEY_FIELD));
    }

    public static boolean isDataChangeRecord(SourceRecord sourceRecord) {
        return !isWatermarkEvent(sourceRecord) && !isHeartbeatEvent(sourceRecord);
    }

    public static @Nonnull OperationType getOperationType(@Nonnull SourceRecord sourceRecord) {
        Struct value = (Struct) sourceRecord.value();
        if (value == null) {
            throw new MongodbConnectorException(
                    ILLEGAL_ARGUMENT,
                    "MongoDB CDC data change record has no value: " + sourceRecord);
        }

        String operationType = null;
        if (value.schema().field(OPERATION_TYPE) != null) {
            operationType = value.getString(OPERATION_TYPE);
        }
        if (StringUtils.isEmpty(operationType)) {
            if (isSnapshotRecord(sourceRecord)) {
                return OperationType.INSERT;
            }
            throw new MongodbConnectorException(
                    ILLEGAL_ARGUMENT,
                    "MongoDB CDC data change record has no operationType field: " + sourceRecord);
        }
        return OperationType.fromString(operationType);
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to cf67b549a7)

Solutions

1. Skip records whose value is null before calling getOperationType (tombstones carry no change data)
2. Filter out non-data events with MongodbRecordUtils.isWatermarkEvent/isHeartbeatEvent before processing
3. Disable tombstone emission at the source if null-value records are not expected

Example fix

// before
OperationType op = MongodbRecordUtils.getOperationType(sourceRecord);
// after
if (sourceRecord.value() == null) {
    return; // tombstone / non-data record
}
OperationType op = MongodbRecordUtils.getOperationType(sourceRecord);

if (sourceRecord == null || sourceRecord.value() == null) {
    return; // tombstone / non-data record, skip
}

boolean isDataRecord(SourceRecord r) {
    return r != null && r.value() instanceof Struct
        && !MongodbRecordUtils.isWatermarkEvent(r) && !MongodbRecordUtils.isHeartbeatEvent(r);
}

try {
    OperationType op = MongodbRecordUtils.getOperationType(record);
} catch (MongodbConnectorException e) {
    log.warn("Skipping record without value: {}", record.topic());
}

When it happens

Trigger: sourceRecord.value() returns null (tombstone record emitted after a delete, or a heartbeat/schema-change record with no payload) and is passed to getOperationType.

Common situations: Kafka-connect-style tombstones enabled so deletes emit a second null-value record; connector version emitting record kinds the utility was not designed for; a misrouted record from a different topic/stream reaching this code.

Understand the failure class

Background: "must not be empty", "cannot be empty" — required-field validation errors across open-source libraries — this error's family across 41 libraries.

Related errors

• ILLEGAL_ARGUMENT
• ILLEGAL_ARGUMENT
• ILLEGAL_ARGUMENT
• ILLEGAL_ARGUMENT
• UNSUPPORTED_OPERATION

AI-assisted analysis of apache/seatunnel@cf67b549a7 (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/def4b8ae4f727966. Report an issue: GitHub.