flowable/flowable-engine · error · FlowableObjectNotFoundException

Could not find a variable with name '${variableName}'.

Error message

Could not find a variable with name '${variableName}'.

What it means

Thrown by deleteVariable when runtimeService.hasVariable reports that the case instance has no variable with the requested name. This is a FlowableObjectNotFoundException (HTTP 404) raised before the deletion, so the variable set is unchanged. Check the case instance id and scope if you believe the variable exists.

Source

Thrown at modules/flowable-cmmn-rest/src/main/java/org/flowable/cmmn/rest/service/api/runtime/caze/CaseInstanceVariableResource.java:185

            setSimpleVariable(restVariable, caseInstance.getId(), false, true, RestVariable.RestVariableScope.GLOBAL, CmmnRestResponseFactory.VARIABLE_CASE, createVariableInterceptor(caseInstance));
        }
    }

    @ApiOperation(value = "Delete a variable", tags = { "Case Instance Variables" }, nickname = "deleteCaseInstanceVariable", code = 204)
    @ApiResponses(value = {
            @ApiResponse(code = 204, message = "Indicates the variable was found and has been deleted. Response-body is intentionally empty."),
            @ApiResponse(code = 404, message = "Indicates the requested variable was not found.")
    })
    @DeleteMapping(value = "/cmmn-runtime/case-instances/{caseInstanceId}/variables/{variableName}")
    @ResponseStatus(HttpStatus.NO_CONTENT)
    public void deleteVariable(@ApiParam(name = "caseInstanceId") @PathVariable("caseInstanceId") String caseInstanceId, @ApiParam(name = "variableName") @PathVariable("variableName") String variableName,
            @RequestParam(value = "scope", required = false) String scope) {

        CaseInstance caseInstance = getCaseInstanceFromRequestWithoutAccessCheck(caseInstanceId);
        
        boolean hasVariable = runtimeService.hasVariable(caseInstance.getId(), variableName);
        if (!hasVariable) {
            throw new FlowableObjectNotFoundException("Could not find a variable with name '" + variableName + "'.");
        }
        
        if (restApiInterceptor != null) {
            restApiInterceptor.deleteCaseInstanceVariables(caseInstance, Collections.singleton(variableName));
        }

        runtimeService.removeVariable(caseInstance.getId(), variableName);
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to d6d39ce1c6)

Solutions

  1. Verify the variable exists first via GET /cmmn-runtime/case-instances/{id}/variables and use the exact returned name.
  2. Confirm the caseInstanceId is correct and the case instance is still running.
  3. Check whether the variable is a task-local variable and use the task variable endpoint instead.
  4. Make delete calls idempotent in your client: ignore 404 FlowableObjectNotFoundException when the desired end state is 'variable absent'.

Example fix

// before
deleteVariable(caseInstanceId, "appoved") // 404

// after
// GET .../variables -> ["approved", ...]
deleteVariable(caseInstanceId, "approved")
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

// Optional pre-check
const vars = await getCaseVariables(caseInstanceId);
if (!vars.some(v => v.name === variableName)) {
  return; // nothing to delete
}

Try / catch

try {
  await deleteCaseVariable(caseInstanceId, variableName);
} catch (e) {
  if (e.status === 404) {
    // variable already absent — treat as success
    return;
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: DELETE /cmmn-runtime/case-instances/{caseInstanceId}/variables/{variableName} where hasVariable(caseInstanceId, variableName) returns false — variable never set, already deleted, name misspelled, or caseInstanceId wrong.

Common situations: Deleting a variable twice (second call 404s); case-sensitivity mismatch in variable names; variable belongs to a task/process scope rather than the case scope; stale client cache after the case instance moved on or completed.

Understand the failure class

Background: 'Could not be found', 'does not exist', 'not found in database': the resource-not-found family when an ID, slug, key, or URI lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of flowable/flowable-engine@d6d39ce1c6 (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/88fed6def97994ee. Report an issue: GitHub.