What causes "No CurrentSessionContext configured" in hibernate/hibernate-orm?

Set hibernate.current_session_context_class to thread, jta, or managed (e.g. properties.put(AvailableSettings.CURRENT_SESSION_CONTEXT_CLASS, "thread")) before building the factory

hibernate/hibernate-orm · error · HibernateException

No CurrentSessionContext configured

Error message

No CurrentSessionContext configured

What it means

SessionFactoryImpl.getCurrentSession() delegates to a CurrentSessionContext, which Hibernate only installs when one is configured. If no current-session context exists (no hibernate.current_session_context_class setting and no programmatic context), the field is null and HibernateException is thrown. 'Current session' management (thread-bound, JTA-scoped, Spring-managed) is opt-in, unlike openSession().

Source

Thrown at hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/internal/SessionFactoryImpl.java:709

		return defaultSessionOpenOptions != null
				? defaultSessionOpenOptions.openSession()
				: withOptions().openSession();
	}

	@Override
	public SessionImplementor openTemporarySession() {
		// The temporarySessionOpenOptions can't be used in some cases;
		// for example when using a TenantIdentifierResolver.
		return temporarySessionOpenOptions != null
				? temporarySessionOpenOptions.openSession()
				: buildTemporarySessionOpenOptions().openSession();
	}

	@Override
	@Nonnull
	public Session getCurrentSession() {
		if ( currentSessionContext == null ) {
			throw new HibernateException( "No CurrentSessionContext configured" );
		}
		return currentSessionContext.currentSession();
	}

	@Override
	@Nonnull
	public SessionBuilderImplementor withOptions() {
		return sessionBuilder( true );
	}

	private SessionBuilderImplementor sessionBuilder(boolean notifyLifecycleCallbacks) {
		return new SessionBuilderImpl( this ) {
			@Override
			protected SessionImplementor createSession(StatefulOptions options) {
				final var session = new SessionImpl( SessionFactoryImpl.this, options );
				if ( notifyLifecycleCallbacks ) {
					postCreate( session );
				}

View on GitHub (pinned to fad1729dce)

Solutions

Set hibernate.current_session_context_class to thread, jta, or managed (e.g. properties.put(AvailableSettings.CURRENT_SESSION_CONTEXT_CLASS, "thread")) before building the factory
In Spring applications, obtain the EMF from Spring (LocalContainerEntityManagerFactoryBean) and use EntityManager injection or getCurrentEntityManager() instead of Hibernate's getCurrentSession()
If you do not want ambient-session semantics, replace getCurrentSession() calls with sessionFactory.openSession() and manage closing yourself
With JTA, verify the transaction coordinator is actually JTA (WildFly/WebSphere) because the JTA context is auto-registered only then

Example fix

// before
Session s = sessionFactory.getCurrentSession(); // HibernateException: No CurrentSessionContext configured

// after
Map<String, Object> cfg = new HashMap<>();
cfg.put(AvailableSettings.CURRENT_SESSION_CONTEXT_CLASS, "thread");
SessionFactory sessionFactory = new Configuration()
        .addProperties(cfg)
        .buildSessionFactory();
Session s = sessionFactory.getCurrentSession(); // now resolves the thread-bound session

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

Map<String, Object> props = emf.getProperties();
boolean hasCurrentSessionContext =
        props.containsKey("hibernate.current_session_context_class")
        || "JTA".equals(String.valueOf(props.get("jakarta.persistence.transactionType")));
Session session = hasCurrentSessionContext
        ? sessionFactory.getCurrentSession()
        : sessionFactory.openSession();

Try / catch

try {
    return sessionFactory.getCurrentSession();
} catch (HibernateException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().contains("No CurrentSessionContext")) {
        throw new IllegalStateException(
            "Configure hibernate.current_session_context_class (thread/jta/managed) or use openSession()", e);
    }
    throw e;
}

Prevention

Fail fast at startup: assert getCurrentSession() works once right after building the factory
In Spring, never hand-call getCurrentSession() — inject EntityManager and let SpringSessionContext manage it
Standardize one session-acquisition pattern per codebase (ambient vs explicit open/close) to avoid mixed assumptions

When it happens

Trigger: Calling sessionFactory.getCurrentSession() when the session factory was built without hibernate.current_session_context_class (or AvailableSettings.CURRENT_SESSION_CONTEXT_CLASS) and without JTA transaction integration. Common when manually bootstrapping via StandardServiceRegistryBuilder in Java SE, or when code migrated from openSession() to getCurrentSession() without adding the config.

Common situations: Java SE apps with manual bootstrap (no Spring); switching a persistence unit from JTA to RESOURCE_LOCAL, which loses the implicit JTA current-session context; a typo in the property name or an invalid value so the context is never registered; Spring setups where the EMF is built manually instead of via LocalContainerEntityManagerFactoryBean, missing SpringSessionContext.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of hibernate/hibernate-orm@fad1729dce (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/627330c2c1fe47d8. Report an issue: GitHub.