What causes "Cannot combine onlyCmmn() with onlyBpmn() in the same query" in flowable/flowable-engine?

Use only one scope restriction per builder

flowable/flowable-engine · error · FlowableIllegalArgumentException

Cannot combine onlyCmmn() with onlyBpmn() in the same query

Error message

Cannot combine onlyCmmn() with onlyBpmn() in the same query

What it means

ExternalWorkerJobAcquireBuilderImpl.onlyBpmn() restricts acquisition to BPMN jobs. If scopeType is already CMMN (e.g. onlyCmmn() was called first), combining the two is ambiguous, so Flowable throws FlowableIllegalArgumentException.

Solutions

Use only one scope restriction per builder
Reset/recreate the builder when switching scope
Use scopeType(String) once with a variable value instead of chaining fixed calls

Example fix

// before
builder.onlyCmmn().onlyBpmn();
// after
builder.onlyBpmn();

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if (useBpmn && useCmmn) throw new IllegalArgumentException("onlyBpmn and onlyCmmn are mutually exclusive");

Try / catch

try { builder.onlyBpmn(); } catch (FlowableIllegalArgumentException e) { if (!e.getMessage().contains("Cannot combine")) throw e; /* resolve conflicting scope flags */ }

Prevention

Model scope choice as an enum instead of independent booleans
Use if/else, not sequential builder calls, for scope selection
Test builder chains with both flags set

When it happens

Trigger: Calling onlyCmmn() then onlyBpmn() (in either order) on the same acquire builder.

Common situations: Accidentally chaining both scope restrictions when building a flexible acquisition request; copy-paste of builder calls.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of flowable/flowable-engine@d6d39ce1c6 (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8eced4572ac662d7. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at modules/flowable-job-service/src/main/java/org/flowable/job/service/impl/ExternalWorkerJobAcquireBuilderImpl.java:67

    @Override
    public ExternalWorkerJobAcquireBuilder topic(String topic, Duration lockDuration) {
        if (topic == null) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("topic is null");
        }

        if (lockDuration == null) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("lockDuration is null");
        }

        this.topic = topic;
        this.lockDuration = lockDuration;
        return this;
    }

    @Override
    public ExternalWorkerJobAcquireBuilder onlyBpmn() {
        if (ScopeTypes.CMMN.equals(scopeType)) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("Cannot combine onlyCmmn() with onlyBpmn() in the same query");
        }

        if (scopeType != null) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("Cannot combine scopeType(String) with onlyBpmn() in the same query");
        }
        return scopeType(ScopeTypes.BPMN);
    }

    @Override
    public ExternalWorkerJobAcquireBuilder onlyCmmn() {
        if (ScopeTypes.BPMN.equals(scopeType)) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("Cannot combine onlyBpmn() with onlyCmmn() in the same query");
        }

        if (scopeType != null) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("Cannot combine scopeType(String) with onlyCmmn() in the same query");
        }
        return scopeType(ScopeTypes.CMMN);

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