Using Joda-Time DateTime has been deprecated and will be…

Error message

Using Joda-Time DateTime has been deprecated and will be removed in a future version. Task Variable {} in task {} was a Joda-Time DateTime.

What it means

Flowable deprecated Joda-Time variable types. When a task-scoped variable with a org.joda.time.DateTime value is stored (setValue on JodaDateTimeType) and the ValueFields has a taskId, a deprecation warning naming the variable and task is logged, telling you Joda-Time DateTime support will be removed.

Solutions

Convert the value to java.time.OffsetDateTime/Instant (or java.util.Date) before setting the variable.
Migrate stored variable values to the Flowable java-time compatible types on next write.
Suppress only if temporary: plan removal before upgrading to the version dropping Joda support.
Audit variable writes for Joda types (search for org.joda.time in setVariable call sites).

Example fix

// before
taskService.setVariableLocal(taskId, "dueDate", org.joda.time.DateTime.now());
// after
taskService.setVariableLocal(taskId, "dueDate", java.time.OffsetDateTime.now());

Defensive patterns

Strategy: type-guard

Validate before calling

public static Object normalizeVar(Object v) {
  if (v instanceof org.joda.time.DateTime dt) return dt.toDate();
  return v;
}
taskService.setVariableLocal(taskId, name, normalizeVar(value));

Type guard

static boolean isJodaDateTime(Object v) {
  return v instanceof org.joda.time.DateTime;
}

Prevention

Ban org.joda.time in new code (enforce via ArchUnit/Checkstyle import rules).
Convert Joda values at API boundaries before storing engine variables.
Migrate variable handling to java.time types project-wide.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling variableService/TaskService APIs to set a task variable whose value is a Joda DateTime — e.g. taskService.setVariableLocal(taskId, name, dateTimeValue) or engine-internal variable creation with a DateTime object while taskId != null.

Common situations: Legacy process/Java code still using Joda-Time after migration guidance; old libraries returning DateTime that is passed straight into setVariable; upgrading Flowable where Joda support is being phased out.

Understand the failure class

Background: "is deprecated and will be removed" — deprecation warnings for old API names, keywords, and options, and how to migrate before the removal release — this error's family across 29 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of flowable/flowable-engine@d6d39ce1c6 (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d682aae20b364c2c. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at modules/flowable-variable-service/src/main/java/org/flowable/variable/service/impl/types/JodaDateTimeType.java:58

            return true;
        }
        return DateTime.class.isAssignableFrom(value.getClass());
    }

    @Override
    public Object getValue(ValueFields valueFields) {
        Long longValue = valueFields.getLongValue();
        if (longValue != null) {
            return new DateTime(longValue);
        }
        return null;
    }

    @Override
    public void setValue(Object value, ValueFields valueFields) {
        if (value != null) {
            if (valueFields.getTaskId() != null) {
                JodaDeprecationLogger.LOGGER.warn(
                        "Using Joda-Time DateTime has been deprecated and will be removed in a future version. Task Variable {} in task {} was a Joda-Time DateTime. ",
                        valueFields.getName(), valueFields.getTaskId());
            } else if (valueFields.getProcessInstanceId() != null) {
                JodaDeprecationLogger.LOGGER.warn(
                        "Using Joda-Time DateTime has been deprecated and will be removed in a future version. Process Variable {} in process instance {} and execution {} was a Joda-Time DateTime. ",
                        valueFields.getName(), valueFields.getProcessInstanceId(), valueFields.getExecutionId());
            } else {
                JodaDeprecationLogger.LOGGER.warn(
                        "Using Joda-Time DateTime has been deprecated and will be removed in a future version. Variable {} in {} instance {} and sub-scope {} was a Joda-Time DateTime. ",
                        valueFields.getName(), valueFields.getScopeType(), valueFields.getScopeId(), valueFields.getSubScopeId());
            }
            valueFields.setLongValue(((DateTime) value).getMillis());
        } else {
            valueFields.setLongValue(null);
        }
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to d6d39ce1c6)