flowable/flowable-engine · error · FlowableObjectNotFoundException

Could not find a case instance with id '${caseInstanceId}'.

Error message

Could not find a case instance with id '${caseInstanceId}'.

What it means

getCaseInstanceFromRequestWithoutAccessCheck queries the runtime service for a case instance by id; if the query returns null, it throws FlowableObjectNotFoundException. This means no running case instance with the given id exists at query time.

Source

Thrown at modules/flowable-cmmn-rest/src/main/java/org/flowable/cmmn/rest/service/api/runtime/caze/BaseCaseInstanceResource.java:295

     */
    protected CaseInstance getCaseInstanceFromRequest(String caseInstanceId) {
        CaseInstance caseInstance = getCaseInstanceFromRequestWithoutAccessCheck(caseInstanceId);

        if (restApiInterceptor != null) {
            restApiInterceptor.accessCaseInstanceInfoById(caseInstance);
        }

        return caseInstance;
    }

    /**
     * Returns the {@link CaseInstance} that is requested without calling the access interceptor
     * Throws the right exceptions when bad request was made or instance was not found.
     */
    protected CaseInstance getCaseInstanceFromRequestWithoutAccessCheck(String caseInstanceId) {
        CaseInstance caseInstance = runtimeService.createCaseInstanceQuery().caseInstanceId(caseInstanceId).singleResult();
        if (caseInstance == null) {
            throw new FlowableObjectNotFoundException("Could not find a case instance with id '" + caseInstanceId + "'.");
        }

        return caseInstance;
    }

    protected void addVariables(CaseInstanceQuery caseInstanceQuery, List<QueryVariable> variables) {
        for (QueryVariable variable : variables) {
            if (variable.getVariableOperation() == null) {
                throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("Variable operation is missing for variable: " + variable.getName());
            }
            if (variable.getVariableOperation() != QueryVariableOperation.EXISTS && variable.getVariableOperation() != QueryVariableOperation.NOT_EXISTS) {
                if (variable.getValue() == null) {
                    throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("Variable value is missing for variable: " + variable.getName());
                }
            }

            boolean nameLess = variable.getName() == null;

View on GitHub (pinned to d6d39ce1c6)

Solutions

1. Query the history endpoint (/cmmn-query/history/historic-case-instances/{id}) if the case is completed.
2. Verify the caseInstanceId against the list endpoint or the CMMN engine database.
3. Confirm the REST app points to the same database/tenant where the case was started.
4. Catch FlowableObjectNotFoundException and return/handle 404 in the caller.

Example fix

// before
get('/cmmn-query/runtime/case-instances/' + id); // 404 for finished cases

// after
let c = get('/cmmn-query/runtime/case-instances/' + id);
if (c.status === 404) c = get('/cmmn-query/history/historic-case-instances/' + id);

// verify id exists in runtime before use
const running = await get(`/cmmn-query/runtime/case-instances/${id}`); // 404 => use history

try {
  return caseInstanceApi.get(caseInstanceId);
} catch (FlowableObjectNotFoundException e) {
  return historicCaseInstanceApi.get(caseInstanceId); // fallback to history
}

When it happens

Trigger: Any case-instance endpoint (GET /cmmn-query/runtime/case-instances/{caseInstanceId}, etc.) with an id that does not exist, was already completed/terminated, or belongs to another database/tenant.

Common situations: Case finished and moved to history (runtime row deleted) while client still queries runtime endpoints, typos in ids, pointing the client at a different DB/tenant, or hard-deleted test data.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Not found" and "does not exist" errors: why "Task not found", "No such folder", and "Can't find" fire when a lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 14 libraries.

Related errors

• Cannot find case instance for id ${caseInstanceId}
• Cannot find case instance with id
• case instance doesn't exist
• case instance doesn't exist
• Cannot find case instance with id

AI-assisted analysis of flowable/flowable-engine@d6d39ce1c6 (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/498e6e781872e090. Report an issue: GitHub.