hibernate/hibernate-orm · error · AnnotationException

Entity class '<className>' has 'JOINED' inheritance and is a

Error message

Entity class '<className>' has 'JOINED' inheritance and is annotated '@DiscriminatorFormula'

What it means

Error "Entity class '<className>' has 'JOINED' inheritance and is annotated '@DiscriminatorFormula'" thrown in hibernate/hibernate-orm.

Source

Thrown at hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/boot/model/internal/EntityBinder.java:1060

			}
			if ( discriminatorFormula != null ) {
				throw new AnnotationException( "Entity class '" + annotatedClass.getName()
						+  "' is annotated '@DiscriminatorFormula' but it is not the root of the entity inheritance hierarchy");
			}
			return null;
		}
	}

	/**
	 * Process all discriminator-related metadata per rules for "joined" inheritance, taking
	 * into account {@value AvailableSettings#IMPLICIT_DISCRIMINATOR_COLUMNS_FOR_JOINED_SUBCLASS}
	 * and {@value AvailableSettings#IGNORE_EXPLICIT_DISCRIMINATOR_COLUMNS_FOR_JOINED_SUBCLASS}.
	 */
	private AnnotatedDiscriminatorColumn processJoinedDiscriminatorProperties(InheritanceState inheritanceState) {
		final var modelContext = modelsContext();

		if ( annotatedClass.hasAnnotationUsage( DiscriminatorFormula.class, modelContext ) ) {
			throw new AnnotationException( "Entity class '" + annotatedClass.getName()
					+  "' has 'JOINED' inheritance and is annotated '@DiscriminatorFormula'" );
		}

		final var discriminatorColumn = annotatedClass.getAnnotationUsage( DiscriminatorColumn.class, modelContext );
		if ( !inheritanceState.hasParents()
				|| annotatedClass.hasAnnotationUsage( Inheritance.class, modelContext ) ) {
			return useDiscriminatorColumnForJoined( discriminatorColumn )
					? buildDiscriminatorColumn( discriminatorColumn, null, null, DEFAULT_DISCRIMINATOR_COLUMN_NAME, context )
					: null;
		}
		else {
			// not a root entity
			if ( discriminatorColumn != null ) {
				throw new AnnotationException( "Entity class '" + annotatedClass.getName()
						+  "' is annotated '@DiscriminatorColumn' but it is not the root of the entity inheritance hierarchy");
			}
			return null;
		}

View on GitHub (pinned to fad1729dce)

Solutions

1. Remove @DiscriminatorFormula; JOINED inheritance does not use a discriminator formula.

When it happens

Trigger: A discriminator mapping is declared where the inheritance strategy does not allow it or is missing required values.

Common situations: @DiscriminatorColumn/@DiscriminatorFormula on non-root classes, JOINED hierarchies with @DiscriminatorFormula, or duplicate/missing @DiscriminatorValue declarations.

AI-assisted analysis of hibernate/hibernate-orm@fad1729dce (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/dbddff838e9d19c5. Report an issue: GitHub.