flowable/flowable-engine · error · FlowableObjectNotFoundException

No historic case instance to be reactivated found with id:

Error message

No historic case instance to be reactivated found with id: 

What it means

After validating the id, ReactivateHistoricCaseInstanceCmd queries the historic case instance store. If no historic case instance matches the given id it throws FlowableObjectNotFoundException 'No historic case instance to be reactivated found with id: <id>' with HistoricCaseInstance.class, meaning there is no completed case instance history record under that id to reactivate.

Source

Thrown at modules/flowable-cmmn-engine/src/main/java/org/flowable/cmmn/engine/impl/cmd/ReactivateHistoricCaseInstanceCmd.java:71

    public ReactivateHistoricCaseInstanceCmd(CaseReactivationBuilderImpl reactivationBuilder) {
        this.reactivationBuilder = reactivationBuilder;
    }

    @Override
    public CaseInstance execute(CommandContext commandContext) {
        if (reactivationBuilder.getCaseInstanceId() == null) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("No historic case instance id provided");
        }

        // Check if the historic case instance is found and if it is no longer running
        CmmnEngineConfiguration cmmnEngineConfiguration = CommandContextUtil.getCmmnEngineConfiguration(commandContext);
        HistoricCaseInstance instance = cmmnEngineConfiguration.getHistoricCaseInstanceEntityManager().createHistoricCaseInstanceQuery()
            .caseInstanceId(reactivationBuilder.getCaseInstanceId())
            .singleResult();

        if (instance == null) {
            throw new FlowableObjectNotFoundException("No historic case instance to be reactivated found with id: " + reactivationBuilder.getCaseInstanceId(), HistoricCaseInstance.class);
        }
        if (instance.getEndTime() == null) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalStateException("Case instance is still running, cannot reactivate historic case instance: " + reactivationBuilder.getCaseInstanceId());
        }

        // move the case instance back to the runtime (this also checks, if the reactivation listener is even existent)
        CaseInstanceEntity caseInstanceEntity = cmmnEngineConfiguration.getCaseInstanceHelper()
            .copyHistoricCaseInstanceToRuntime(instance);

        // reset the state to be active again and also set the last reactivation time as well as the current user triggering it
        caseInstanceEntity.setState(CaseInstanceState.ACTIVE);
        caseInstanceEntity.setLastReactivationTime(cmmnEngineConfiguration.getClock().getCurrentTime());
        caseInstanceEntity.setLastReactivationUserId(Authentication.getAuthenticatedUserId());

        // set case variables, if the builder contains any
        if (reactivationBuilder.hasVariables()) {
            caseInstanceEntity.setVariables(reactivationBuilder.getVariables());
        }

View on GitHub (pinned to d6d39ce1c6)

Solutions

1. Confirm the historic record exists: cmmnHistoryService.createHistoricCaseInstanceQuery().caseInstanceId(id).singleResult() != null and finished == true
2. If the case is still running, don't reactivate — operate on the runtime instance instead
3. Enable/raise the CMMN history level (e.g. audit) so finished cases are persisted, and check history cleanup settings
4. Catch FlowableObjectNotFoundException to handle missing historic instances gracefully

Example fix

// before
cmmnRuntimeService.createCaseInstanceReactivationBuilder().caseInstanceId(runningCaseId)... // not in history
// after
HistoricCaseInstance h = cmmnHistoryService.createHistoricCaseInstanceQuery().caseInstanceId(id).finished().singleResult();
if (h != null) { cmmnRuntimeService.createCaseInstanceReactivationBuilder().caseInstanceId(h.getId())... }

HistoricCaseInstance h = cmmnHistoryService.createHistoricCaseInstanceQuery().caseInstanceId(id).finished().singleResult();
if (h == null) throw new IllegalArgumentException("No finished historic case instance with id " + id);

try { reactivationBuilder.caseInstanceId(id).reactivate(); } catch (FlowableObjectNotFoundException e) { log.warn("Historic case instance {} not found", id); }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling reactivate() with an id of a still-running (non-historic) case instance, a never-existing id, or an id from a system where CMMN history was purged or never recorded (history level too low).

Common situations: Id of a running case instance passed instead of the historic one; history cleanup job deleted the record; history level configured below audit so no historic instance was persisted; ids from another environment/database.

Understand the failure class

Background: Record Not Found Errors: "not found", RecordNotFound, and "was not found" — what they mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

• No External Worker job found for id: ${externalJobId}
• historic case instanceIds are null
• historic case instanceIds are empty
• Could not find task entity for id
• No historic task exists with the given id:

AI-assisted analysis of flowable/flowable-engine@d6d39ce1c6 (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/14b70b68f8c16a24. Report an issue: GitHub.