flowable/flowable-engine · error · FlowableIllegalArgumentException

enabledAfter is null

Error message

enabledAfter is null

What it means

planItemInstanceLastEnabledAfter(Date) throws FlowableIllegalArgumentException with message 'enabledAfter is null' when given a null Date. The CMMN query builder validates each date filter eagerly so invalid queries fail at call time rather than at query execution. Null is not a valid filter bound.

Solutions

1. Supply a real Date instance to the method.
2. Conditionally chain the filter only when the value is non-null.
3. Coalesce to a sensible default date before calling.
4. Catch FlowableIllegalArgumentException and rebuild the query without the filter if null is acceptable.

Example fix

// before
query.planItemInstanceLastEnabledAfter(filter.getEnabledAfter()); // may be null
// after
if (filter.getEnabledAfter() != null) {
    query.planItemInstanceLastEnabledAfter(filter.getEnabledAfter());
}

if (enabledAfter == null) {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("enabledAfter must be a non-null Date");
}
query.planItemInstanceLastEnabledAfter(enabledAfter);

boolean present(Date d) { return d != null; }

try {
    query.planItemInstanceLastEnabledAfter(enabledAfter);
} catch (FlowableIllegalArgumentException e) {
    query = cmmnRuntimeService.createPlanItemInstanceQuery();
}

When it happens

Trigger: Invoking planItemInstanceLastEnabledAfter(null) on a PlanItemInstanceQuery, e.g. when a lookup of the 'enabled after' timestamp returned null or a request field was absent.

Common situations: Optional filters wired directly from REST query params; null return from a utility that fetches reference dates; Spring @RequestParam defaults omitted; copy-paste refactors renaming variables but keeping null initializers.

Related errors

• activatedBefore is null
• completedBefore is null
• disabledAfter is null
• disabledBefore is null
• enabledBefore is null

AI-assisted analysis of flowable/flowable-engine@d6d39ce1c6 (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/25ffeff70e92e0bc. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at modules/flowable-cmmn-engine/src/main/java/org/flowable/cmmn/engine/impl/runtime/PlanItemInstanceQueryImpl.java:428

    }

    @Override
    public PlanItemInstanceQuery planItemInstanceLastEnabledBefore(Date enabledBefore) {
        if (enabledBefore == null) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("enabledBefore is null");
        }
        if (inOrStatement) {
            this.currentOrQueryObject.lastEnabledBefore = enabledBefore;
        } else {
            this.lastEnabledBefore = enabledBefore;
        }
        return this;
    }

    @Override
    public PlanItemInstanceQuery planItemInstanceLastEnabledAfter(Date enabledAfter) {
        if (enabledAfter == null) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("enabledAfter is null");
        }
        if (inOrStatement) {
            this.currentOrQueryObject.lastEnabledAfter = enabledAfter;
        } else {
            this.lastEnabledAfter = enabledAfter;
        }
        return this;
    }

    @Override
    public PlanItemInstanceQuery planItemInstanceLastDisabledBefore(Date disabledBefore) {
        if (disabledBefore == null) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("disabledBefore is null");
        }
        if (inOrStatement) {
            this.currentOrQueryObject.lastDisabledBefore = disabledBefore;
        } else {
            this.lastDisabledBefore = disabledBefore;

View on GitHub (pinned to d6d39ce1c6)