flowable/flowable-engine · error · FlowableObjectNotFoundException

Task ' ' doesn't have a variable ' ' in scope

Error message

Task '${taskId}' doesn't have a variable '${variableName}' in scope ${scope}

What it means

This FlowableObjectNotFoundException is thrown by the CMMN REST API when a DELETE request for a task variable cannot find the named variable on the task in the requested scope (LOCAL by default, or GLOBAL/ANY). The API validates that the variable exists before deleting it, so deleting a non-existent variable fails rather than silently succeeding.

Solutions

Set the correct scope query parameter (e.g. ?scope=global) if the variable lives in the global/case scope
Verify the variable name via GET /cmmn-runtime/tasks/{taskId}/variables before deleting
Check the task is still active; completed/terminated tasks may have purged variables
Handle 404 in the client as an idempotent success if the goal is just to remove the variable

Example fix

// before
delete /cmmn-runtime/tasks/{taskId}/variables/orderId
// after
delete /cmmn-runtime/tasks/{taskId}/variables/orderId?scope=global

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

const vars = await fetch(`/cmmn-runtime/tasks/${taskId}/variables`); const exists = (await vars.json()).some(v => v.name === variableName);

Type guard

function hasVariable(vars, name, scope) { return Array.isArray(vars) && vars.some(v => v.name === name && (scope === undefined || v.scope === undefined || v.scope === scope)); }

Try / catch

try { await deleteVariable(taskId, variableName, scope); } catch (e) { if (e.status === 404 && /doesn't have a variable/.test(e.message)) { /* treat as already deleted */ } else { throw e; } }

Prevention

List a task's variables before deleting to confirm name and scope
Always pass the explicit scope when the variable is global
Treat 404 on delete as idempotent success in retry logic

When it happens

Trigger: DELETE /cmmn-runtime/tasks/{taskId}/variables/{variableName} (optionally with ?scope=global|local) where the task has no variable with that name in the requested scope. Note default scope is LOCAL, so a global-only variable will also trigger this if scope is not specified.

Common situations: Client caches stale variable lists after the variable was already deleted; variable exists only in GLOBAL scope but request omits scope=global; typo in variable name; task already completed and its local variables were removed.

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

AI-assisted analysis of flowable/flowable-engine@d6d39ce1c6 (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/392601338875c5cb. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at modules/flowable-cmmn-rest/src/main/java/org/flowable/cmmn/rest/service/api/runtime/task/TaskVariableResource.java:153

            @ApiResponse(code = 204, message = "Indicates the task variable was found and has been deleted. Response-body is intentionally empty."),
            @ApiResponse(code = 404, message = "Indicates the requested task was not found or the task does not have a variable with the given name. Status message contains additional information about the error.")
    })
    @DeleteMapping(value = "/cmmn-runtime/tasks/{taskId}/variables/{variableName}")
    @ResponseStatus(HttpStatus.NO_CONTENT)
    public void deleteVariable(@ApiParam(name = "taskId") @PathVariable("taskId") String taskId,
            @ApiParam(name = "variableName") @PathVariable("variableName") String variableName,
            @ApiParam(hidden = true) @RequestParam(value = "scope", required = false) String scopeString) {

        Task task = getTaskFromRequestWithoutAccessCheck(taskId);

        // Determine scope
        RestVariableScope scope = RestVariableScope.LOCAL;
        if (scopeString != null) {
            scope = RestVariable.getScopeFromString(scopeString);
        }

        if (!hasVariableOnScope(task, variableName, scope)) {
            throw new FlowableObjectNotFoundException("Task '" + task.getId() + "' doesn't have a variable '" + variableName + "' in scope " + scope.name().toLowerCase(), VariableInstanceEntity.class);
        }

        if (restApiInterceptor != null) {
            restApiInterceptor.deleteTaskVariables(task, Collections.singleton(variableName), scope);
        }

        if (scope == RestVariableScope.LOCAL) {
            taskService.removeVariableLocal(task.getId(), variableName);
        } else {
            // Safe to use scope id, as the hasVariableOnScope would have
            // stopped a global-var update on standalone task
            runtimeService.removeVariable(task.getScopeId(), variableName);
        }
    }
}

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