oracle/graal · error · IllegalArgumentException

"%s" is not a valid option for %s. Valid values are %s

Error message

"%s" is not a valid option for %s. Valid values are %s

What it means

EnumOptionKey.valueOf delegates to Enum.valueOf(enumClass, name); an unknown constant throws IllegalArgumentException quoting the bad value, the option name, and EnumSet.allOf(enumClass) as the valid set. This is the standard parse-time check every single-valued Graal enum option performs when a -D option string is converted to its enum value.

Source

Thrown at compiler/src/jdk.graal.compiler.options/src/jdk/graal/compiler/options/EnumOptionKey.java:53

        super(value);
        if (value == null) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Value must not be null");
        }
        this.enumClass = value.getDeclaringClass();
    }

    /**
     * @return the set of possible values for this option.
     */
    public EnumSet<T> getAllValues() {
        return EnumSet.allOf(enumClass);
    }

    public Object valueOf(String name) {
        try {
            return Enum.valueOf(enumClass, name);
        } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("\"" + name + "\" is not a valid option for " + getName() + ". Valid values are " + getAllValues());
        }
    }

    @Override
    protected void onValueUpdate(EconomicMap<OptionKey<?>, Object> values, T oldValue, T newValue) {
        assert enumClass.isInstance(newValue) : newValue + " is not a valid value for " + getName();
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to a66e9ccd1d)

Solutions

1. Use one of the constants listed in the message's 'Valid values are' output, with exact casing.
2. After upgrading GraalVM, re-check the option's enum via the options help/dump for renames.
3. Lint option values in build scripts against the enum values before running.
4. Prefer symbolic constants over hand-typed strings where the API allows setting the enum directly.

Example fix

# before
-Dgraal.OptimizationLevel=aggressive
# after (valid constant from the message)
-Dgraal.OptimizationLevel=Aggressive

// Check the value parses before launching with -D
try {
    Enum.valueOf(MyOptionEnum.class, value);
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid value; valid: " + EnumSet.allOf(MyOptionEnum.class));
}

try {
    EnumOptionKey k = (EnumOptionKey) key;
    k.valueOf(value);
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
    // message shows the valid set; correct the -D flag and restart
}

When it happens

Trigger: Setting a Graal enum option to a name that is not one of its constants: case mismatch (e.g. 'inline' vs 'Inline'), renamed constant across versions, or passing a boolean/other-typed value to an enum option.

Common situations: Command-line or .graal-compiler-config typos; documentation from a different GraalVM version; scripts built against older option sets after an upgrade.

Related errors

• "%s" is not a valid option for %s. Valid values are %s
• Value for {} cannot be empty
• Invalid directed inlining rules file path: {path}
• Invalid option
• Unknown tier option value '%s'. %s

AI-assisted analysis of oracle/graal@a66e9ccd1d (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c4efe781078c83fc. Report an issue: GitHub.