flowable/flowable-engine · error · FlowableIllegalArgumentException

keyLike is null

Error message

keyLike is null

What it means

DecisionQueryImpl.decisionKeyLike(String) throws FlowableIllegalArgumentException when keyLike is null. LIKE-based filters require a pattern string; null cannot be turned into a SQL LIKE condition, so the builder rejects it at call time instead of producing a broken query.

Source

Thrown at modules/flowable-dmn-engine/src/main/java/org/flowable/dmn/engine/impl/DecisionQueryImpl.java:169

            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("parentDeploymentId is null");
        }
        this.parentDeploymentId = parentDeploymentId;
        return this;
    }

    @Override
    public DecisionQueryImpl decisionKey(String key) {
        if (key == null) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("key is null");
        }
        this.key = key;
        return this;
    }

    @Override
    public DecisionQueryImpl decisionKeyLike(String keyLike) {
        if (keyLike == null) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("keyLike is null");
        }
        this.keyLike = keyLike;
        return this;
    }

    @Override
    public DecisionQueryImpl decisionResourceName(String resourceName) {
        if (resourceName == null) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("resourceName is null");
        }
        this.resourceName = resourceName;
        return this;
    }

    @Override
    public DecisionQueryImpl decisionResourceNameLike(String resourceNameLike) {
        if (resourceNameLike == null) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("resourceNameLike is null");

View on GitHub (pinned to d6d39ce1c6)

Solutions

1. Only call decisionKeyLike when the pattern is non-null; omit the filter otherwise.
2. Default the pattern to a non-null value such as "%" if you truly want all keys.
3. Trim/normalize user input before passing it, and treat empty string as 'no filter'.

Example fix

// before
query.decisionKeyLike(searchPattern);
// after
if (searchPattern != null && !searchPattern.isEmpty()) {
    query.decisionKeyLike(searchPattern);
}

if (keyLike != null && !keyLike.isEmpty()) {
    query.decisionKeyLike(keyLike);
}

boolean hasPattern(String p) { return p != null && !p.isEmpty(); }

try {
    query.decisionKeyLike(keyLike);
} catch (FlowableIllegalArgumentException e) {
    if (e.getMessage() != null && e.getMessage().contains("keyLike")) {
        keyLike = "%"; // fall back to match-all pattern
        query.decisionKeyLike(keyLike);
    } else { throw e; }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling decisionKeyLike(null) — typically a variable holding a user-supplied pattern (e.g. 'order-%') that was never populated, or code forwarding an optional parameter unconditionally.

Common situations: Search screens where the user left the 'key contains' field blank and the code passes null instead of skipping the filter; typo between a config property name and the variable read into it.

Related errors

• key is null
• resourceName is null
• resourceNameLike is null
• version is null
• decision tenantId is null

AI-assisted analysis of flowable/flowable-engine@d6d39ce1c6 (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e06444031ea4152c. Report an issue: GitHub.