flowable/flowable-engine · error · ActivitiIllegalArgumentException

Invalid query usage: cannot set both taskNameIn and…

Error message

Invalid query usage: cannot set both taskNameIn and taskNameLike

What it means

taskNameIn conflicts with the LIKE-based filter taskNameLike. The taskNameIn setter rejects queries where taskNameLike was already set, since an exact IN list and a LIKE pattern cannot be combined for the same column in this query API.

Solutions

Remove the .taskNameLike(...) call before calling taskNameIn, or use only taskNameLike.
Use taskNameInIgnoreCase instead if case-insensitive matching of the list was the intent behind taskNameLike.
Create a new query object instead of reusing one configured with taskNameLike.

Example fix

// before
query.taskNameLike("%review%");
query.taskNameIn(names);
// after
query.taskNameInIgnoreCase(names); // or drop the like filter
query.taskNameIn(names);

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if (names != null && !names.isEmpty()) {
    // choose ONE: like-pattern OR in-list
    if (pattern != null) {
        query.taskNameLike(pattern);
    } else {
        query.taskNameIn(names);
    }
}

Type guard

boolean canUseTaskNameIn(HistoricTaskInstanceQueryImpl q) { return q.getTaskNameLike() == null; }

Try / catch

try {
    query.taskNameIn(names);
} catch (org.activiti.engine.ActivitiIllegalArgumentException e) {
    // taskNameLike already set — drop it or use taskNameInIgnoreCase
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("Choose either taskNameLike or taskNameIn", e);
}

Prevention

Decide per request whether filtering is exact-list or pattern-based, never both.
Document that taskNameLike and taskName*In* are exclusive on the name column.
Add a unit test covering each invalid combination.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling .taskNameIn(List<String>) on a HistoricTaskInstanceQuery on which .taskNameLike("%review%") was previously called.

Common situations: Dynamic query builders that add a pattern filter when the user types partial text, then also apply an IN list from a multi-select UI.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of flowable/flowable-engine@d6d39ce1c6 (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fa64d474e7d4fffc. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at modules/flowable5-engine/src/main/java/org/activiti/engine/impl/HistoricTaskInstanceQueryImpl.java:388

            this.taskName = taskName;
        }
        return this;
    }

    @Override
    public HistoricTaskInstanceQuery taskNameIn(List<String> taskNameList) {
        if (taskNameList == null) {
            throw new ActivitiIllegalArgumentException("Task name list is null");
        }
        if (taskNameList.isEmpty()) {
            throw new ActivitiIllegalArgumentException("Task name list is empty");
        }

        if (taskName != null) {
            throw new ActivitiIllegalArgumentException("Invalid query usage: cannot set both taskNameIn and taskName");
        }
        if (taskNameLike != null) {
            throw new ActivitiIllegalArgumentException("Invalid query usage: cannot set both taskNameIn and taskNameLike");
        }
        if (taskNameLikeIgnoreCase != null) {
            throw new ActivitiIllegalArgumentException("Invalid query usage: cannot set both taskNameIn and taskNameLikeIgnoreCase");
        }

        if (inOrStatement) {
            currentOrQueryObject.taskNameList = taskNameList;
        } else {
            this.taskNameList = taskNameList;
        }
        return this;
    }

    @Override
    public HistoricTaskInstanceQuery taskNameInIgnoreCase(List<String> taskNameList) {
        if (taskNameList == null) {
            throw new ActivitiIllegalArgumentException("Task name list is null");
        }

View on GitHub (pinned to d6d39ce1c6)