hibernate/hibernate-orm · error · InvalidGraphException

Invalid path qualifier [{}] - expecting 'key' or 'value'

Error message

Invalid path qualifier [{}] - expecting 'key' or 'value'

What it means

Error "Invalid path qualifier [{}] - expecting 'key' or 'value'" thrown in hibernate/hibernate-orm.

Source

Thrown at hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/graph/internal/parse/GraphParser.java:163

		final var currentGraph = graphStack.getCurrent();
		assert currentGraph != null;

		final var attributeNode = currentGraph.findOrCreateAttributeNode( attributeName );
		assert attributeNode != null;

		return attributeNode;
	}

	private PathQualifierType resolvePathQualifier(String qualifier) {
		if ( "key".equalsIgnoreCase( qualifier ) ) {
			return PathQualifierType.KEY;
		}

		if ( "value".equalsIgnoreCase( qualifier ) ) {
			return PathQualifierType.VALUE;
		}

		throw new InvalidGraphException( "Invalid path qualifier [" + qualifier + "] - expecting 'key' or 'value'" );
	}

	@Override
	public SubGraphImplementor<?> visitSubGraph(GraphLanguageParser.SubGraphContext subGraphContext) {
		final String subTypeName =
				subGraphContext.subTypeIndicator() == null ? null
						: subGraphContext.subTypeIndicator().TYPE_NAME().getText();

		if ( PARSING_LOGGER.isTraceEnabled() ) {
			PARSING_LOGGER.tracef(
					"%s Starting graph: %s",
					repeat( ">>", attributeNodeStack.depth() + 2 ),
					subTypeName
			);
		}

		final var attributeNode = attributeNodeStack.getCurrent();

View on GitHub (pinned to fad1729dce)

Solutions

1. Use only 'key' or 'value' as path qualifiers for map-valued attributes in entity graph text.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown while parsing an entity graph string whose map attribute path uses a qualifier other than 'key' or 'value'.

Common situations: Typical situations: typos in graph text; legacy vs modern graph syntax mixed up.

AI-assisted analysis of hibernate/hibernate-orm@fad1729dce (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/431e58e8cfc1e990. Report an issue: GitHub.