apache/seatunnel · error · IllegalArgumentException

input.multiline.flush-idle-timeout-ms must not be negative

Error message

input.multiline.flush-idle-timeout-ms must not be negative (input id=${id}).

What it means

The multiline flush idle timeout (input.multiline.flush-idle-timeout-ms) controls how long an incomplete multiline buffer is kept before flushing. FileCollectConfig rejects negative values with this IllegalArgumentException, since a negative timeout has no meaning.

Solutions

Set input.multiline.flush-idle-timeout-ms to a positive value (e.g. 30000)
Remove the option to use the default timeout
If multiline is disabled, omit the option rather than using negative sentinels

Example fix

# before
input.multiline.flush-idle-timeout-ms = -1
# after
input.multiline.flush-idle-timeout-ms = 30000

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if (cfg.contains(FileCollectOptions.MULTILINE_FLUSH_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MS) && cfg.get(FileCollectOptions.MULTILINE_FLUSH_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MS) < 0L) { throw new IllegalArgumentException("flush-idle-timeout-ms must be >= 0"); }

Try / catch

try { FileCollectConfig.from(config); } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) { log.error("Invalid timeout: {}", e.getMessage()); }

Prevention

Never use negative values as 'disabled' sentinels for timeouts
Omit the option instead of using sentinel values
Document allowed ranges for generated configs

When it happens

Trigger: Configuring input.multiline.flush-idle-timeout-ms to any negative value in a file-collect input definition.

Common situations: Typo like -1 intending 'disabled', sign errors in generated configs, or misreading the option as a relative offset.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Invalid value" and "allowed values are" config errors: what your library rejected and how to fix it — this error's family across 41 libraries.

Timeouts: ETIMEDOUT, deadlines, and hung requests — what actually expires when a request times out.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of apache/seatunnel@cf67b549a7 (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/16905ea901235202. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at seatunnel-edge-agent/seatunnel-edge-agent-connector/src/main/java/org/apache/seatunnel/edge/agent/connector/config/FileCollectConfig.java:87

        }
        this.paths = Collections.unmodifiableList(new ArrayList<>(pathList));
        this.encoding = config.get(FileCollectOptions.ENCODING);
        this.charset = resolveCharset(this.encoding, this.id);
        this.readFromBeginning = config.get(FileCollectOptions.READ_FROM_BEGINNING);
        this.multilinePattern =
                config.getOptional(FileCollectOptions.MULTILINE_PATTERN).orElse(null);
        this.multilineMatch = config.get(FileCollectOptions.MULTILINE_MATCH);
        validateMultilineMatch(this.multilineMatch);
        this.multilineNegate = config.get(FileCollectOptions.MULTILINE_NEGATE);
        this.multilineMaxLines = config.get(FileCollectOptions.MULTILINE_MAX_LINES);
        if (this.multilineMaxLines < 1) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException(
                    "input.multiline.max-lines must be >= 1 when set (input id=" + this.id + ").");
        }
        this.multilineFlushIdleTimeoutMs =
                config.get(FileCollectOptions.MULTILINE_FLUSH_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MS);
        if (this.multilineFlushIdleTimeoutMs < 0L) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException(
                    "input.multiline.flush-idle-timeout-ms must not be negative (input id="
                            + this.id
                            + ").");
        }
        if (isMultilineEnabled() && this.multilineFlushIdleTimeoutMs <= 0L) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException(
                    "input.multiline.flush-idle-timeout-ms must be > 0 when multiline is enabled,"
                            + " otherwise the buffer may never flush (input id="
                            + this.id
                            + ").");
        }
        this.outputType = config.get(FileCollectOptions.OUTPUT_FORMAT_TYPE);
        validateOutputType(this.outputType);
        this.onError = config.get(FileCollectOptions.ON_ERROR);
        validateOnError(this.onError);
        this.globScanIntervalMs = config.get(FileCollectOptions.GLOB_SCAN_INTERVAL_MS);
        if (this.globScanIntervalMs < 1L) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException(

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