elastic/elasticsearch · error · IllegalArgumentException

word_list must be provided for [{name}], either as a path to

Error message

word_list must be provided for [{name}], either as a path to a file, or directly

What it means

Error "word_list must be provided for [{name}], either as a path to a file, or directly" thrown in elastic/elasticsearch.

Source

Thrown at modules/analysis-common/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/analysis/common/AbstractCompoundWordTokenFilterFactory.java:45

    protected final int minSubwordSize;
    protected final int maxSubwordSize;
    protected final boolean onlyLongestMatch;
    protected final CharArraySet wordList;
    // TODO expose this parameter?
    protected final boolean reuseChars;

    protected AbstractCompoundWordTokenFilterFactory(IndexSettings indexSettings, Environment env, String name, Settings settings) {
        super(name);

        minWordSize = settings.getAsInt("min_word_size", CompoundWordTokenFilterBase.DEFAULT_MIN_WORD_SIZE);
        minSubwordSize = settings.getAsInt("min_subword_size", CompoundWordTokenFilterBase.DEFAULT_MIN_SUBWORD_SIZE);
        maxSubwordSize = settings.getAsInt("max_subword_size", CompoundWordTokenFilterBase.DEFAULT_MAX_SUBWORD_SIZE);
        onlyLongestMatch = settings.getAsBoolean("only_longest_match", false);
        // TODO is the default of true correct? see: https://github.com/apache/lucene/pull/14278
        reuseChars = true;
        wordList = Analysis.getWordSet(env, settings, "word_list");
        if (wordList == null) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("word_list must be provided for [" + name + "], either as a path to a file, or directly");
        }
    }

    @Override
    public TokenFilterFactory getSynonymFilter() {
        return IDENTITY_FILTER;     // don't decompound synonym file
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to db6a809a66)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at modules/analysis-common/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/analysis/common/AbstractCompoundWordTokenFilterFactory.java:45 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of elastic/elasticsearch@db6a809a66 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ddaf4807a8de2d77. Report an issue: GitHub.