flowable/flowable-engine · error · FlowableObjectNotFoundException

Case instance '${instanceId}' doesn't have a variable with n

Error message

Case instance '${instanceId}' doesn't have a variable with name: '${variableName}'.

What it means

When variableType is VARIABLE_CASE and runtimeService.getVariable returns null, the method throws FlowableObjectNotFoundException stating the case instance has no such variable. It distinguishes a missing variable from other lookup errors, targeting VariableInstance as the missing entity.

Source

Thrown at modules/flowable-cmmn-rest/src/main/java/org/flowable/cmmn/rest/service/api/runtime/caze/BaseVariableResource.java:124

    protected RestVariable getVariableFromRequestWithoutAccessCheck(String instanceId, String variableName, int variableType, boolean includeBinary) {
        Object value = null;

        if (variableType == CmmnRestResponseFactory.VARIABLE_PLAN_ITEM) {
            value = runtimeService.getLocalVariable(instanceId, variableName);
        } else if (variableType == CmmnRestResponseFactory.VARIABLE_CASE) {
            value = runtimeService.getVariable(instanceId, variableName);
        } else {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("Unknown variable type " + variableType);
        }

        if (value == null) {
            if (variableType == CmmnRestResponseFactory.VARIABLE_PLAN_ITEM) {
                throw new FlowableObjectNotFoundException(
                        "Plan item instance '" + instanceId + "' doesn't have a variable with name: '" + variableName + "'.",
                        VariableInstance.class);
            } else {
                throw new FlowableObjectNotFoundException(
                        "Case instance '" + instanceId + "' doesn't have a variable with name: '" + variableName + "'.",
                        VariableInstance.class);
            }
        }

        //we use null for the scope, because the extraction from request does not require the scope
        return constructRestVariable(variableName, value, instanceId, variableType, includeBinary, null);
    }

    protected byte[] getVariableDataByteArray(CaseInstance caseInstance, String variableName, HttpServletResponse response) {
        RestVariable variable = getVariableFromRequest(caseInstance, variableName, true);
        return restVariableDataToRestResponse(variable, response);
    }

    protected byte[] getVariableDataByteArray(PlanItemInstance planItemInstance, String variableName, HttpServletResponse response) {
        RestVariable variable = getVariableFromRequest(planItemInstance, variableName, true);
        return restVariableDataToRestResponse(variable, response);
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to d6d39ce1c6)

Solutions

1. List all case variables first (GET case-instance variables) to verify the name
2. If the variable is local to a plan item, query the plan-item variable endpoint
3. Fix variable name spelling/case
4. Use history variable queries for completed case instances

Example fix

// before
GET /cmmn-runtime/case-instances/{id}/variables/Assignee // wrong case
// after
GET /cmmn-runtime/case-instances/{id}/variables/assignee

const vars = await fetch(`/cmmn-runtime/case-instances/${caseId}/variables`);
const names = (await vars.json()).map(v => v.name);
if (!names.includes(variableName)) throw new Error('Variable not present on case: ' + variableName);

try { ... } catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof FlowableObjectNotFoundException) { /* check plan-item scope or history */ }
}

When it happens

Trigger: GET/PUT/DELETE of a single variable on a case-instance variable endpoint where variableName is not set on the case instance.

Common situations: Variable never created; variable lives at plan-item local scope instead of case scope; typo or case mismatch in variable name; reading variables of an already-completed case instance (gone from runtime).

Understand the failure class

Background: Record Not Found Errors: "not found", RecordNotFound, and "was not found" — what they mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

• Could not find a case instance
• No case instance found for id ${caseInstanceId}
• No case instance found for id ${caseInstanceId}
• The variable does not have a binary data stream.
• Could not find a case instance with id '${caseInstanceId}'.

AI-assisted analysis of flowable/flowable-engine@d6d39ce1c6 (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bcfb0d7f9fb121b9. Report an issue: GitHub.