flowable/flowable-engine · error · FlowableObjectNotFoundException

Form model for task

Error message

Form model for task 

What it means

FlowableObjectNotFoundException thrown by GetTaskFormModelCmd.execute when the task exists but no form model resolves from its formKey (and parent deploymentId/tenant). The comment notes it deliberately does not leak whether the task or only the form is missing. It indicates a form-definition/deployment mismatch rather than a bad task id.

Solutions

1. Deploy a form definition whose key matches the task's formKey in the same app/deployment
2. Check the formKey in the BPMN <flowable:formKey> / task form property against deployed form keys (repositoryService query)
3. Ensure the form is deployed for the task's tenant (or enable processEngineConfiguration.isFallbackToDefaultTenant())
4. Verify parentDeploymentId resolution — deploy the form with the same deployment id as the process definition

Example fix

// before
// BPMN: <userTask id="approve" flowable:formKey="approvalForm" /> but no form deployed
// after: add src/main/resources/forms/approvalForm.form with key "approvalForm" to the deployment

Task t = taskService.createTaskQuery().taskId(taskId).singleResult();
boolean formDeployed = t != null && t.getFormKey() != null
        && !repositoryService.createFormDefinitionQuery().formDefinitionKeyLike(t.getFormKey()).count()...; // or check deployed form keys

try {
    FormInfo form = taskService.getTaskFormModel(taskId);
} catch (FlowableObjectNotFoundException e) {
    renderDefaultForm(taskId); // graceful default UI instead of 500
}

When it happens

Trigger: task.getFormKey() returns a key with no matching form definition deployed (formService.getFormModelWithVariablesByKeyAndParentDeploymentId returns null); the form was deployed to a different deployment/tenant than parentDeploymentId/tenantId; form definitions were deleted or not deployed for the process; fallback-to-default-tenant disabled and form lives in default tenant.

Common situations: Forgetting to deploy the .form file alongside the process definition; redeploying a new app version without the form resources; changing the formKey in the BPMN XML without deploying the renamed form; cross-tenant form lookups where isFallbackToDefaultTenant=false.

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

• byte array for resource
• byte array for resource
• byte array for resource
• bytes array is null
• bytes is null

AI-assisted analysis of flowable/flowable-engine@d6d39ce1c6 (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fa72281b23215b9b. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at modules/flowable-engine/src/main/java/org/flowable/engine/impl/cmd/GetTaskFormModelCmd.java:137

        FormInfo formInfo = null;
        if (ignoreVariables) {
            FormRepositoryService formRepositoryService = CommandContextUtil.getFormRepositoryService();
            formInfo = formRepositoryService.getFormModelByKeyAndParentDeploymentId(task.getFormKey(), parentDeploymentId,
                    task.getTenantId(), processEngineConfiguration.isFallbackToDefaultTenant());

        } else if (endTime != null) {
            formInfo = formService.getFormInstanceModelByKeyAndParentDeploymentId(task.getFormKey(), parentDeploymentId,
                    taskId, task.getProcessInstanceId(), variables, task.getTenantId(), processEngineConfiguration.isFallbackToDefaultTenant());

        } else {
            formInfo = formService.getFormModelWithVariablesByKeyAndParentDeploymentId(task.getFormKey(), parentDeploymentId,
                    taskId, variables, task.getTenantId(), processEngineConfiguration.isFallbackToDefaultTenant());
        }

        // If form does not exists, we don't want to leak out this info to just anyone
        if (formInfo == null) {
            throw new FlowableObjectNotFoundException("Form model for task " + task.getTaskDefinitionKey() + " cannot be found for form key " + task.getFormKey());
        }

        FormFieldHandler formFieldHandler = processEngineConfiguration.getFormFieldHandler();
        formFieldHandler.enrichFormFields(formInfo);

        return formInfo;
    }

}

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