apache/seatunnel · error · IllegalArgumentException

The plugin type of seaTunnel only support these options: [so

Error message

The plugin type of seaTunnel only support these options: [source, transform, sink]

What it means

ConnectorCheckCommandArgs.SeaTunnelPluginTypeConverter.convert() throws this IllegalArgumentException when the -t/--plugin-type value cannot be parsed as a PluginType. Only source, transform, and sink are accepted (case-insensitive, matched against the PluginType enum).

Source

Thrown at seatunnel-core/seatunnel-starter/src/main/java/org/apache/seatunnel/core/starter/seatunnel/args/ConnectorCheckCommandArgs.java:61

    @Parameter(
            names = {"-pt", "--plugin-type"},
            description = "SeaTunnel plugin type, support [source, sink, transform]",
            converter = SeaTunnelPluginTypeConverter.class)
    private PluginType pluginType;

    @Override
    public Command<?> buildCommand() {
        return new ConnectorCheckCommand(this);
    }

    public static class SeaTunnelPluginTypeConverter implements IStringConverter<PluginType> {
        @Override
        public PluginType convert(String value) {
            try {
                return PluginType.valueOf(value.toUpperCase());
            } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
                throw new IllegalArgumentException(
                        "The plugin type of seaTunnel only "
                                + "support these options: [source, transform, sink]");
            }
        }
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to cf67b549a7)

Solutions

1. Use one of: --plugin-type source, --plugin-type transform, or --plugin-type sink (case-insensitive)
2. Check the PluginType enum for the exact accepted names
3. Fix typos/case issues in scripts generating the CLI arguments

Example fix

// before
--plugin-type connector
// after
--plugin-type source

const allowed = ['source','transform','sink'];
if (!allowed.includes(pluginType.toLowerCase())) {
  throw new Error(`--plugin-type must be one of ${allowed}; got: ${pluginType}`);
}

const isPluginType = (v) => ['source','transform','sink'].includes(String(v).toLowerCase());

try {
  connectorCheck.run(args);
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
  if (e.getMessage().contains('[source, transform, sink]')) {
    // prompt user / fix the -t value and retry
  }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `seatunnel.sh --check-config`-style connector check with e.g. `--plugin-type connector`, `--plugin-type sourceand Sink`, or any misspelled type that fails PluginType.valueOf.

Common situations: Guessing plugin type names instead of using the enum; scripts parameterized with an empty or wrong type; confusion with plugin jar types.

Understand the failure class

Background: Invalid enum value errors: "Unknown type", "Invalid scope", "must be one of" — when a string is not on the library's allowed list — this error's family across 23 libraries.

Related errors

• Unsupported dry-run mode '${value}'. Currently only [static,
• SeaTunnel job on st-engine submitted target only support the
• Plugin type must be one of: [source, sink, transform]
• Invalid argument , should have 2 parts
• Invalid filter condition:

AI-assisted analysis of apache/seatunnel@cf67b549a7 (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/eb524e6f562b46e9. Report an issue: GitHub.