flowable/flowable-engine · error · FlowableObjectNotFoundException

execution doesn't exist

Error message

execution ${executionId} doesn't exist

What it means

After validating arguments, GetExecutionVariableCmd looks up the execution and throws FlowableObjectNotFoundException if findById returns null — the execution id is valid syntactically but no such execution row exists, so the variable cannot be read.

Solutions

1. Confirm the execution exists: runtimeService.createExecutionQuery().executionId(id).singleResult() before the getVariable call.
2. If the process already ended, read the variable via historyService.createHistoricVariableInstanceQuery().processInstanceId(...).variableName(...).
3. Verify the id source: use execution.getId() from a live query result, not a cached value.
4. Check engine datasource configuration to ensure you hit the right database.

Example fix

// before
Object v = runtimeService.getVariable(executionId, "orderState");
// after
Execution exec = runtimeService.createExecutionQuery().executionId(executionId).singleResult();
Object v = (exec != null)
    ? runtimeService.getVariable(executionId, "orderState")
    : historyService.createHistoricVariableInstanceQuery()
        .executionId(executionId).variableName("orderState")
        .singleResult();

boolean exists = runtimeService.createExecutionQuery()
    .executionId(executionId).count() > 0;

try {
    runtimeService.getVariable(executionId, name);
} catch (FlowableObjectNotFoundException e) {
    // execution finished: read from historyService historic variable query
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling RuntimeService.getVariable(executionId, variableName) with an execution id not present in ACT_RU_EXECUTION (finished execution, wrong id, or id from a different engine/database).

Common situations: Reading a variable after the process execution completed and its runtime rows were deleted; stale ids stored externally; mixing runtime API with historic data; multi-datasource misconfiguration.

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 associate execution by id: no execution with id '
• Cannot find execution with id
• Cannot find process instance with id
• Cannot find process instance with id
• Could not find an execution with id

AI-assisted analysis of flowable/flowable-engine@d6d39ce1c6 (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e734ef52f1bb6761. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at modules/flowable-engine/src/main/java/org/flowable/engine/impl/cmd/GetExecutionVariableCmd.java:56

    public GetExecutionVariableCmd(String executionId, String variableName, boolean isLocal) {
        this.executionId = executionId;
        this.variableName = variableName;
        this.isLocal = isLocal;
    }

    @Override
    public Object execute(CommandContext commandContext) {
        if (executionId == null) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("executionId is null");
        }
        if (variableName == null) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("variableName is null");
        }

        ExecutionEntity execution = CommandContextUtil.getExecutionEntityManager(commandContext).findById(executionId);

        if (execution == null) {
            throw new FlowableObjectNotFoundException("execution " + executionId + " doesn't exist", Execution.class);
        }

        if (Flowable5Util.isFlowable5ProcessDefinitionId(commandContext, execution.getProcessDefinitionId())) {
            Flowable5CompatibilityHandler compatibilityHandler = Flowable5Util.getFlowable5CompatibilityHandler();
            return compatibilityHandler.getExecutionVariable(executionId, variableName, isLocal);
        }

        Object value;

        if (isLocal) {
            value = execution.getVariableLocal(variableName, false);
        } else {
            value = execution.getVariable(variableName, false);
        }

        return value;
    }
}

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