flowable/flowable-engine · error · FlowableIllegalArgumentException

appsDefinitionIds is null

Error message

appsDefinitionIds is null

What it means

FlowableIllegalArgumentException thrown by AppDefinitionQueryImpl.appDefinitionIds when the Set of app definition ids passed is null. The query builder requires a non-null, non-empty set to filter on.

Source

Thrown at modules/flowable-app-engine/src/main/java/org/flowable/app/engine/impl/repository/AppDefinitionQueryImpl.java:75

    public AppDefinitionQueryImpl(CommandContext commandContext) {
        super(commandContext);
    }

    public AppDefinitionQueryImpl(CommandExecutor commandExecutor) {
        super(commandExecutor);
    }

    @Override
    public AppDefinitionQueryImpl appDefinitionId(String appDefinitionId) {
        this.id = appDefinitionId;
        return this;
    }

    @Override
    public AppDefinitionQuery appDefinitionIds(Set<String> appsDefinitionIds) {
        if (appsDefinitionIds == null) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("appsDefinitionIds is null");
        } else if (appsDefinitionIds.isEmpty()) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("Empty appsDefinitionIds");
        }
        this.ids = appsDefinitionIds;
        return this;
    }

    @Override
    public AppDefinitionQueryImpl appDefinitionCategory(String category) {
        if (category == null) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("category is null");
        }
        this.category = category;
        return this;
    }

    @Override
    public AppDefinitionQueryImpl appDefinitionCategoryLike(String categoryLike) {

View on GitHub (pinned to d6d39ce1c6)

Solutions

1. Pass a non-null Set of ids; if there is nothing to filter, skip the appDefinitionIds() call entirely
2. Null-check or default the set at the call site before building the query
3. Coalesce null to an empty collection and branch on it

Example fix

// before
query.appDefinitionIds(idsById.get(appKey)); // may be null
// after
Set<String> ids = idsById.getOrDefault(appKey, Collections.emptySet());
if (!ids.isEmpty()) { query.appDefinitionIds(ids); }

if (ids != null && !ids.isEmpty()) {
    query.appDefinitionIds(ids);
}

boolean isValidIdSet(Set<String> ids) { return ids != null && !ids.isEmpty(); }

try {
    query.appDefinitionIds(ids);
} catch (FlowableIllegalArgumentException e) {
    // fall back to unfiltered query or propagate validation error
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling appDefinitionQuery.appDefinitionIds(null) while building an AppDefinitionQuery, typically when the id set comes from an upstream call or map lookup that returned null.

Common situations: Upstream list/map lookup produced null instead of an empty set; variable holding ids was never initialized; refactored code where a default set was removed.

Related errors

• category is null
• query is null
• parentScopeIds is null or empty
• Business status is null
• Case definition keys is null

AI-assisted analysis of flowable/flowable-engine@d6d39ce1c6 (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4256b28ba07603a3. Report an issue: GitHub.