Client name for [ ] is set to a generated value of [ ]…

Error message

Client name for [{}] is set to a generated value of [{}]. Consider defining an explicit name for the delegated provider

What it means

DelegatedIdentityProviderFactory.configureClientName warns when a delegated identity provider client has no explicit client name configured. CAS generates a random name (simple class name + 4 random digits), which is unstable across restarts and can break stored references, so the developer is advised to name the client explicitly.

Solutions

Set an explicit client name, e.g. cas.authn.pac4j.oidc[0].client-name=MyOidcProvider, in the provider configuration.
If constructing clients programmatically, call client.setName(...) or provide the name via the client configuration object before registration.
Update any registered-service delegatedAuthenticationPolicy allowed-providers lists to match the now-stable explicit name.

Example fix

// before
cas.authn.pac4j.oidc[0].client-id=abc
cas.authn.pac4j.oidc[0].client-secret=xyz
// after
cas.authn.pac4j.oidc[0].client-name=my-oidc
cas.authn.pac4j.oidc[0].client-id=abc
cas.authn.pac4j.oidc[0].client-secret=xyz

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// at config load time
if (StringUtils.isBlank(pac4jProperties.getClientName())) { throw new IllegalStateException("client-name must be set for delegated provider"); }

Prevention

Always set an explicit client-name for every delegated provider.
Keep registered-service allowed-providers lists in sync with explicit client names.

When it happens

Trigger: A pac4j client (e.g. OAuth/OIDC/SAML client in cas.authn.pac4j.* config) is registered without cas.authn.pac4j.<client>.client-name or an explicit name in the client definition, so the blank clientName branch runs at identity-provider factory build time.

Common situations: Minimal delegated auth configurations omitting the client-name property; auto-configuration creating clients where only the main settings (clientId/secret) were supplied; downstream service delegatedAuthn provider allowlists referencing names that then change per restart.

Understand the failure class

Background: "is required", "must be set", "missing required field": configuration validation errors across open-source libraries — this error's family across 36 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of apereo/cas@e7288fc434 (2026-09-08). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f1007e8045dc0845. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at support/cas-server-support-pac4j-api/src/main/java/org/apereo/cas/pac4j/client/DelegatedIdentityProviderFactory.java:89

     * @return the list
     * @throws Exception the exception
     */
    List<BaseClient> buildFrom(CasConfigurationProperties properties) throws Exception;

    /**
     * Configure client name.
     *
     * @param client     the client
     * @param clientName the client name
     */
    static void configureClientName(final BaseClient client, final String clientName) {
        if (StringUtils.isNotBlank(clientName)) {
            client.setName(clientName);
        } else {
            val className = client.getClass().getSimpleName();
            val genName = className.concat(RandomUtils.randomNumeric(4));
            client.setName(genName);
            LOGGER.warn("Client name for [{}] is set to a generated value of [{}]. "
                + "Consider defining an explicit name for the delegated provider", className, genName);
        }
    }

    /**
     * Configure client custom properties.
     *
     * @param client           the client
     * @param clientProperties the client properties
     */
    static void configureClientCustomProperties(final BaseClient client, final Pac4jBaseClientProperties clientProperties) {
        val customProperties = client.getCustomProperties();
        customProperties.put(ClientCustomPropertyConstants.CLIENT_CUSTOM_PROPERTY_AUTO_REDIRECT_TYPE, clientProperties.getAutoRedirectType());

        FunctionUtils.doIfNotBlank(clientProperties.getPrincipalIdAttribute(),
            _ -> customProperties.put(ClientCustomPropertyConstants.CLIENT_CUSTOM_PROPERTY_PRINCIPAL_ATTRIBUTE_ID, clientProperties.getPrincipalIdAttribute()));
        FunctionUtils.doIfNotBlank(clientProperties.getCssClass(),
            _ -> customProperties.put(ClientCustomPropertyConstants.CLIENT_CUSTOM_PROPERTY_CSS_CLASS, clientProperties.getCssClass()));

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