flowable/flowable-engine · error · FlowableIllegalArgumentException

categoryLike is null

Error message

categoryLike is null

What it means

ProcessDefinitionQueryImpl.processDefinitionCategoryLike() filters definitions whose category matches a LIKE pattern, and the pattern must be non-null. Null cannot produce a valid SQL LIKE clause, so the query builder throws FlowableIllegalArgumentException immediately. The pattern itself (e.g. 'http-%') is the caller's responsibility.

Solutions

1. Build the LIKE pattern from a validated non-null value before calling the method.
2. Guard: if (categoryLike != null) query.processDefinitionCategoryLike(categoryLike);
3. Treat empty input as 'no filter' and skip the call.
4. Default the pattern in configuration (e.g. '%') when filtering is optional.

Example fix

// before
ProcessDefinitionQuery query = repositoryService.createProcessDefinitionQuery()
    .processDefinitionCategoryLike(params.get("categoryLike"));

// after
ProcessDefinitionQuery query = repositoryService.createProcessDefinitionQuery();
String categoryLike = params.get("categoryLike");
if (categoryLike != null && !categoryLike.isEmpty()) {
    query.processDefinitionCategoryLike(categoryLike);
}

if (categoryLike != null && !categoryLike.isEmpty()) {
    query = repositoryService.createProcessDefinitionQuery().processDefinitionCategoryLike(categoryLike);
} else {
    query = repositoryService.createProcessDefinitionQuery();
}

boolean isValidLikePattern(String p) {
    return p != null && !p.trim().isEmpty();
}

try {
    return repositoryService.createProcessDefinitionQuery().processDefinitionCategoryLike(pattern).list();
} catch (FlowableIllegalArgumentException e) {
    log.warn("Null categoryLike pattern: {}", e.getMessage());
    throw new BadRequestException("categoryLike must not be null");
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling processDefinitionCategoryLike(null), typically when the pattern is assembled from a null base value (request param, config key) or the wildcard-building helper returns null for empty input.

Common situations: Search UIs forwarding an empty/absent categoryLike parameter; building '%'+value+'%' where value is null; environment-specific config where the categoryLike filter key is unset.

Related errors

• after time is null
• category is null
• categoryLike is null
• categoryNotEquals is null
• categoryNotEquals is null

AI-assisted analysis of flowable/flowable-engine@d6d39ce1c6 (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5ae6d13b138cb475. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at modules/flowable-engine/src/main/java/org/flowable/engine/impl/ProcessDefinitionQueryImpl.java:112

    @Override
    public ProcessDefinitionQuery processDefinitionIds(Set<String> processDefinitionIds) {
        this.ids = processDefinitionIds;
        return this;
    }

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

    @Override
    public ProcessDefinitionQueryImpl processDefinitionCategoryLike(String categoryLike) {
        if (categoryLike == null) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("categoryLike is null");
        }
        this.categoryLike = categoryLike;
        return this;
    }

    @Override
    public ProcessDefinitionQueryImpl processDefinitionCategoryNotEquals(String categoryNotEquals) {
        if (categoryNotEquals == null) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("categoryNotEquals is null");
        }
        this.categoryNotEquals = categoryNotEquals;
        return this;
    }

    @Override
    public ProcessDefinitionQueryImpl processDefinitionName(String name) {
        if (name == null) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("name is null");

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