jenkinsci/jenkins · error · CmdLineException

No default value for the parameter '%s'.

Error message

No default value for the parameter '%s'.

What it means

Thrown as a CmdLineException when iterating over the job's ParameterDefinitions and finding one that was not provided via -p AND has no default value (getDefaultParameterValue() returns null). This ensures all required parameters receive a value before the build is scheduled.

Source

Thrown at core/src/main/java/hudson/cli/BuildCommand.java:137

                            String.format("'%s' is not a valid parameter.", name) :
                            String.format("'%s' is not a valid parameter. Did you mean %s?", name, nearest));
                }
                ParameterValue val = pd.createValue(this, Util.fixNull(e.getValue()));
                if (val == null) {
                    throw new CmdLineException(null, String.format("Cannot resolve the value for the parameter '%s'.", name));
                }
                values.add(val);
            }

            // handle missing parameters by adding as default values ISSUE JENKINS-7162
            for (ParameterDefinition pd : pdp.getParameterDefinitions()) {
                if (parameters.containsKey(pd.getName()))
                    continue;

                // not passed in use default
                ParameterValue defaultValue = pd.getDefaultParameterValue();
                if (defaultValue == null) {
                    throw new CmdLineException(null, String.format("No default value for the parameter '%s'.", pd.getName()));
                }
                values.add(defaultValue);
            }

            a = new ParametersAction(values);
        }

        if (checkSCM) {
            SCMTriggerItem item = SCMTriggerItem.SCMTriggerItems.asSCMTriggerItem(job);
            if (item == null)
                throw new AbortException(job.getFullDisplayName() + " has no SCM trigger, but checkSCM was specified");
            // preemptively check for a polling veto
            if (SCMDecisionHandler.firstShouldPollVeto(job) != null) {
                return 0;
            }
            if (!item.poll(new StreamTaskListener(stdout, getClientCharset())).hasChanges())
                return 0;
        }

View on GitHub (pinned to 2e228ff40b)

Solutions

  1. Provide the missing parameter via -p <name>=<value> in the CLI command.
  2. Set a default value for the parameter in the job configuration so it is optional.
  3. List all required parameters: check the job configuration for parameters without defaults.
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Check all required parameters are provided
ParametersDefinitionProperty pdp = job.getProperty(ParametersDefinitionProperty.class);
if (pdp != null) {
    for (ParameterDefinition pd : pdp.getParameterDefinitions()) {
        if (!parameters.containsKey(pd.getName()) && pd.getDefaultParameterValue() == null) {
            throw new AbortException("Required parameter '" + pd.getName() + "' was not provided and has no default.");
        }
    }
}

Type guard

public static boolean isParameterRequired(ParameterDefinition pd) {
    return pd.getDefaultParameterValue() == null;
}

Try / catch

try {
    // build command run()
} catch (CmdLineException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().contains("No default value")) {
        stderr.println(e.getMessage());
        stderr.println("Provide the missing parameter with -p <name>=<value>.");
        return 1;
    }
    throw e;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: During the 'fill in defaults' loop: a ParameterDefinition is not in the provided parameters map (parameters.containsKey(pd.getName()) is false), and pd.getDefaultParameterValue() returns null.

Common situations: A required parameter was added to the job but not supplied in the CLI call; a parameter definition's default value was cleared or never set; a custom ParameterDefinition type that doesn't implement getDefaultParameterValue properly.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jenkinsci/jenkins@2e228ff40b (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9c05a9f0ce2b7281. Report an issue: GitHub.