hibernate/hibernate-orm · error · IllegalAttributeType

A "virtual id" cannot define collection attributes : {}

Error message

A "virtual id" cannot define collection attributes : {}

What it means

Error "A "virtual id" cannot define collection attributes : {}" thrown in hibernate/hibernate-orm.

Source

Thrown at hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/metamodel/mapping/internal/VirtualIdEmbeddable.java:218

			Component bootDescriptor,
			CompositeType compositeType,
			String rootTableExpression,
			String[] rootTableKeyColumnNames,
			MappingModelCreationProcess creationProcess) {

		final var attributeMappings = new ImmutableAttributeMappingList.Builder( compositeType.getPropertyNames().length );

		return finishInitialization(
				navigableRole,
				bootDescriptor,
				compositeType,
				rootTableExpression,
				rootTableKeyColumnNames,
				this,
				representationStrategy,
				(attributeName, attributeType) -> {
					if ( attributeType instanceof CollectionType ) {
						throw new IllegalAttributeType( "A \"virtual id\" cannot define collection attributes : " + attributeName );
					}
					if ( attributeType instanceof AnyType ) {
						throw new IllegalAttributeType( "A \"virtual id\" cannot define <any/> attributes : " + attributeName );
					}
				},
				(column, jdbcEnvironment) -> MappingModelCreationHelper.getTableIdentifierExpression( column.getValue().getTable(), creationProcess ),
				attributeMappings::add,
				() -> {
					this.attributeMappings = attributeMappings.build();
					// We need the attribute mapping types to finish initialization first before we can build the column mappings
					creationProcess.registerInitializationCallback(
							"VirtualIdEmbeddable(" + navigableRole + ")#initColumnMappings",
							this::initColumnMappings
					);
				},
				creationProcess
		);
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to fad1729dce)

Solutions

1. Remove collection attributes from the entity's identifier property; map the identifier with basic or to-one attributes only.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown when an entity whose identifier is a virtual id (mapped from its @IdClass) also declares collection attributes on the id.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of hibernate/hibernate-orm@fad1729dce (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d9aa7fe9b559b09e. Report an issue: GitHub.