flowable/flowable-engine · error · FlowableIllegalArgumentException

Provided exception message is null

Error message

Provided exception message is null

What it means

DeadLetterJobQueryImpl.exceptionMessage(String) requires a non-null exception message since it is used as an exact-match filter in the query. Passing null cannot be distinguished from 'no filter', so FlowableIllegalArgumentException is thrown. Callers that do not want this filter should simply not call the method.

Source

Thrown at modules/flowable-job-service/src/main/java/org/flowable/job/service/impl/DeadLetterJobQueryImpl.java:519

            this.duedateLowerThan = date;
        }
        return this;
    }

    @Override
    public DeadLetterJobQueryImpl withException() {
        if (inOrStatement) {
            this.currentOrQueryObject.withException = true;
        } else {
            this.withException = true;
        }
        return this;
    }

    @Override
    public DeadLetterJobQueryImpl exceptionMessage(String exceptionMessage) {
        if (exceptionMessage == null) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("Provided exception message is null");
        }
        if (inOrStatement) {
            this.currentOrQueryObject.exceptionMessage = exceptionMessage;
        } else {
            this.exceptionMessage = exceptionMessage;
        }
        return this;
    }

    @Override
    public DeadLetterJobQueryImpl jobTenantId(String tenantId) {
        if (tenantId == null) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("Provided tenant id is null");
        }
        if (inOrStatement) {
            this.currentOrQueryObject.tenantId = tenantId;
        } else {
            this.tenantId = tenantId;

View on GitHub (pinned to d6d39ce1c6)

Solutions

1. Guard with a null check and skip the filter when the message is absent
2. Use empty-string handling deliberately if 'match everything' semantics are desired (note: null is rejected)
3. Handle FlowableIllegalArgumentException and surface a user-friendly 'specify an exception message' message

Example fix

// before
query.exceptionMessage(failedJob.getExceptionMessage()); // may be null
// after
if (failedJob.getExceptionMessage() != null) {
    query.exceptionMessage(failedJob.getExceptionMessage());
}

if (exceptionMessage != null) { query.exceptionMessage(exceptionMessage); }

boolean hasExceptionMessage(String m) { return m != null; }

try { query.exceptionMessage(msg); } catch (FlowableIllegalArgumentException e) { log.warn("No exception message to filter on", e); }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling deadLetterJobQuery().exceptionMessage(msg) where msg is null, typically from a variable that failed to capture the job's exception message or from an unset request parameter.

Common situations: Reading the exception message from a job/variable that is null (job not yet failed); passing a search term from a REST query parameter that was omitted.

Related errors

• Provided date is null
• Provided tenant id is null
• Provided exception message is null
• Provided tenant id is null
• Provided process definition id is null

AI-assisted analysis of flowable/flowable-engine@d6d39ce1c6 (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9e16508cb414cad7. Report an issue: GitHub.