conductor-oss/conductor · error · IllegalArgumentException

priority MUST be between 0 and 99 (inclusive)

Error message

priority MUST be between 0 and 99 (inclusive)

What it means

Workflow.setPriority enforces that task scheduling priority is an integer in the closed range [0, 99]. Values below 0 or above 99 are rejected immediately. Priority influences the relative scheduling precedence of a workflow's tasks.

Source

Thrown at common/src/main/java/com/netflix/conductor/common/run/Workflow.java:421

     * @return the external storage path of the workflow output payload
     */
    public String getExternalOutputPayloadStoragePath() {
        return externalOutputPayloadStoragePath;
    }

    /**
     * @return the priority to define on tasks
     */
    public int getPriority() {
        return priority;
    }

    /**
     * @param priority priority of tasks (between 0 and 99)
     */
    public void setPriority(int priority) {
        if (priority < 0 || priority > 99) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("priority MUST be between 0 and 99 (inclusive)");
        }
        this.priority = priority;
    }

    /**
     * Convenience method for accessing the workflow definition name.
     *
     * @return the workflow definition name.
     */
    public String getWorkflowName() {
        if (workflowDefinition == null) {
            throw new NullPointerException("Workflow definition is null");
        }
        return workflowDefinition.getName();
    }

    /**
     * Convenience method for accessing the workflow definition version.

View on GitHub (pinned to cf7c3e4a8a)

Solutions

1. Clamp the priority into [0, 99] before setting it.
2. Use 0 (default/lowest) when priority is unspecified instead of a sentinel like -1.
3. Validate the value at the API/config boundary before it reaches Workflow.

Example fix

// before: out-of-range value throws
workflow.setPriority(requestedPriority);

// after: clamp into valid range
int p = Math.max(0, Math.min(99, requestedPriority));
workflow.setPriority(p);

// Validate priority range before setting
static boolean isValidPriority(int p) {
    return p >= 0 && p <= 99;
}
if (!isValidPriority(requestedPriority)) {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("priority must be 0..99, got " + requestedPriority);
}

// Clamp or reject out-of-range priority at the boundary
try {
    workflow.setPriority(requestedPriority);
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
    workflow.setPriority(Math.max(0, Math.min(99, requestedPriority)));
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling workflow.setPriority(n) (or submitting a workflow payload with a 'priority' field) where n < 0 or n > 99.

Common situations: UI or config passing 100 or 999 as a 'max priority' sentinel; negative values from a default/unset integer (-1); arithmetic that overflows the intended range.

Related errors

• workflowDefinition is a string, but not a valid DSL string
• workflowDefinition must be either null, or WorkflowDef, or a
• Model string cannot be null or empty
• Invalid model format: '%s'. Expected 'provider/model'.
• NULL input passed when starting workflow

AI-assisted analysis of conductor-oss/conductor@cf7c3e4a8a (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b2007c42401cbde3. Report an issue: GitHub.