flowable/flowable-engine · error · FlowableIllegalArgumentException

The case instance id is mandatory, but '${caseInstanceId}' h

Error message

The case instance id is mandatory, but '${caseInstanceId}' has not been provided.

What it means

Constructor validation in SetCaseInstanceDueDateCmd: a null or empty caseInstanceId is rejected before any command executes, throwing FlowableIllegalArgumentException. Flowable commands validate their mandatory arguments eagerly so the error surfaces at call time rather than deep inside the command context.

Source

Thrown at modules/flowable-cmmn-engine/src/main/java/org/flowable/cmmn/engine/impl/cmd/SetCaseInstanceDueDateCmd.java:36

import org.flowable.cmmn.api.runtime.CaseInstance;
import org.flowable.cmmn.engine.impl.persistence.entity.CaseInstanceEntity;
import org.flowable.cmmn.engine.impl.persistence.entity.CaseInstanceEntityManager;
import org.flowable.cmmn.engine.impl.util.CommandContextUtil;
import org.flowable.common.engine.api.FlowableIllegalArgumentException;
import org.flowable.common.engine.api.FlowableObjectNotFoundException;
import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.interceptor.Command;
import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.interceptor.CommandContext;

public class SetCaseInstanceDueDateCmd implements Command<Void>, Serializable {

    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;

    private final String caseInstanceId;
    private final Date dueDate;

    public SetCaseInstanceDueDateCmd(String caseInstanceId, Date dueDate) {
        if (caseInstanceId == null || caseInstanceId.length() < 1) {
            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException("The case instance id is mandatory, but '" + caseInstanceId + "' has not been provided.");
        }

        this.caseInstanceId = caseInstanceId;
        this.dueDate = dueDate;
    }

    @Override
    public Void execute(CommandContext commandContext) {
        CaseInstanceEntityManager caseInstanceEntityManager = CommandContextUtil.getCaseInstanceEntityManager(commandContext);
        CaseInstanceEntity caseInstanceEntity = caseInstanceEntityManager.findById(caseInstanceId);
        if (caseInstanceEntity == null) {
            throw new FlowableObjectNotFoundException("No case instance found for id = '" + caseInstanceId + "'.", CaseInstance.class);
        }

        caseInstanceEntityManager.updateCaseInstanceDueDate(caseInstanceEntity, dueDate);

        return null;
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to d6d39ce1c6)

Solutions

1. Ensure the caseInstanceId is a non-empty string before invoking setCaseInstanceDueDate
2. Fix the source of the empty id (missing DTO field, unbound request parameter)
3. Catch FlowableIllegalArgumentException at the API boundary and return a 400 with a clear message

Example fix

// before
cmmnRuntimeService.setCaseInstanceDueDate(caseInstanceId, dueDate); // caseInstanceId may be ""
// after
if (caseInstanceId == null || caseInstanceId.isEmpty()) {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("caseInstanceId must be provided");
}
cmmnRuntimeService.setCaseInstanceDueDate(caseInstanceId, dueDate);

if (caseInstanceId == null || caseInstanceId.trim().isEmpty()) {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("caseInstanceId must be a non-empty string");
}

boolean hasCaseInstanceId(String id) { return id != null && !id.trim().isEmpty(); }

try {
    cmmnRuntimeService.setCaseInstanceDueDate(caseInstanceId, dueDate);
} catch (FlowableIllegalArgumentException e) {
    throw new BadRequestException("Invalid caseInstanceId: " + e.getMessage(), e);
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling CmmnRuntimeService.setCaseInstanceDueDate(null, dueDate) or with "" as the caseInstanceId.

Common situations: Uninitialized or empty string variables passed from request DTOs; upstream code that never set the case instance id; JSON deserialization producing empty strings instead of null.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

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• The case instance id is mandatory, but '

AI-assisted analysis of flowable/flowable-engine@d6d39ce1c6 (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1324fe2b4226135c. Report an issue: GitHub.