bazelbuild/bazel · error · OptionProcessorException

Annotated method name must start with 'get' followed by an u

Error message

Annotated method name must start with 'get' followed by an uppercase letter

What it means

The options annotation processor enforces a naming convention on @Option interface methods: the name must start with 'get', be at least 4 characters, and the 4th character (index 3) must be uppercase — the standard Java bean getter shape. This keeps the generated implementation and documentation consistent with the flag's accessors.

Source

Thrown at src/main/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/processor/OptionsClassProcessor.java:339

      messager.printMessage(
          Diagnostic.Kind.ERROR,
          "Failed to generate implementation for " + className + ": " + e.getMessage());
    }
  }

  private void checkMethodOption(ExecutableElement method) throws OptionProcessorException {
    if (!method.getModifiers().contains(Modifier.PUBLIC)) {
      throw new OptionProcessorException(method, "@Option method must be public");
    }
    if (!method.getModifiers().contains(Modifier.ABSTRACT)) {
      throw new OptionProcessorException(method, "@Option method must be abstract");
    }

    String methodName = method.getSimpleName().toString();
    if (!methodName.startsWith("get")
        || methodName.length() < 4
        || !Character.isUpperCase(methodName.charAt(3))) {
      throw new OptionProcessorException(
          method, "Annotated method name must start with 'get' followed by an uppercase letter");
    }

    checkOptionName(method);
    checkOldCategoriesAreNotUsed(method);
    checkExpansionOptions(method);
    checkConverter(method);
    checkEffectTagRationality(method);
    checkMetadataTagAndCategoryRationality(method);
    checkNoDefaultValueForMultipleOption(method);
    checkDeprecated(method);
  }

  private void checkOptionName(ExecutableElement method) throws OptionProcessorException {
    Option annotation = method.getAnnotation(Option.class);
    String optionName = annotation.name();
    if (optionName.isEmpty()) {
      throw new OptionProcessorException(method, "Option must have an actual name.");

View on GitHub (pinned to e6e199d060)

Solutions

Rename the method to getFoo / getFooBar form (get + flag name in CamelCase)
For booleans keep the get prefix too (getFoo, not isFoo) — the flag still uses --nofoo negation at the CLI level
Update call sites or add a delegating accessor elsewhere if you need a different public name

Example fix

// before
@Option(name = "foo", effectTags = {OptionEffectTag.NO_OP})
String foo();
// after
@Option(name = "foo", effectTags = {OptionEffectTag.NO_OP})
String getFoo();

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Enforce the get+Uppercase convention in a build-time check
var NAME = java.util.regex.Pattern.compile("get[A-Z].*");
for (var m : MyOptions.class.getMethods()) {
  if (m.isAnnotationPresent(Option.class) && !NAME.matcher(m.getName()).matches()) {
    throw new AssertionError("@Option method name must be getFoo-style: " + m.getName());
  }
}

Prevention

Name the getter after the flag: flag foo_bar -> getFooBar()
Use get even for booleans
Let the IDE generate getters, then add the annotation

When it happens

Trigger: Annotating methods like foo(), getfoo(), get(), or getFoo vs isFoo-style names — anything not matching get + Uppercase — with @Option in an options interface.

Common situations: Naming a getter after the flag without the get prefix (e.g. experimentalCxxFlags()); 'is' prefix for booleans (isFoo) which the convention rejects; abbreviation casing like getURL that starts lowercase after 'get'.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of bazelbuild/bazel@e6e199d060 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/473a3c185190a092. Report an issue: GitHub.