projectlombok/lombok · error · IllegalArgumentException

4th argument must be one of 'all', 'changelog'…

Error message

4th argument must be one of 'all', 'changelog', 'download-edge', 'changelog-latest'

What it means

WebsiteMaker.main dispatches on args[3] (the 4th CLI argument) with equalsIgnoreCase against the known website build modes ('all', 'changelog', 'download-edge', 'changelog-latest', plus 'print-allversions'). An unrecognized value throws this IllegalArgumentException. Note the message list omits 'print-allversions', which is also accepted.

Solutions

1. Set the 4th argument to one of: 'all', 'changelog', 'download-edge', 'changelog-latest' (case-insensitive) — 'print-allversions' also works despite not being listed in the message.
2. Check argument order: argIn/argOut/version must precede the mode argument.
3. Fix typos in your release script or wrapper (e.g. 'changelogs' -> 'changelog').
4. Compare with the invocation documented in the repo's release/publish scripts.

Example fix

// before
java WebsiteMaker <in> <out> 1.18.30 downloadEdge
// after
java WebsiteMaker <in> <out> 1.18.30 download-edge

java.util.Set<String> modes = java.util.Set.of("all", "changelog", "download-edge", "changelog-latest", "print-allversions");
if (!modes.contains(args[3].toLowerCase(java.util.Locale.ROOT))) throw new IllegalArgumentException("mode must be one of " + modes);

When it happens

Trigger: Invoking WebsiteMaker with an args[3] value other than the recognized modes — typo (e.g. 'Download'), renamed/moved mode, argument order mistake so a version string lands in position 3.

Common situations: Hand-typing the website build command in a release script; scripts copied from older docs using a mode name that no longer exists; swapped arguments after editing the command line.

Understand the failure class

Background: Invalid enum value errors: "Unknown type", "Invalid scope", "must be one of" — when a string is not on the library's allowed list — this error's family across 23 libraries.

Related errors

• mandatory argument ' ' missing
• Duplicate argument not allowed
• 4 args required: [path to creds file] [path to file root to…
• 4th arg must be 'true' or 'false'
• Format keys need to be 2 values separated with a colon.

AI-assisted analysis of projectlombok/lombok@6d6a3e9fec (2026-09-07). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e6e89c02e6deb480. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/support/lombok/website/WebsiteMaker.java:215

			fullVersion = args[2];
		}
		
		String argIn = args.length < 5 ? null : args[4];
		String argOut = args.length < 6 ? null : args[5];
		if (args.length < 4 || args[3].equalsIgnoreCase("all")) {
			buildAll(domain, version, fullVersion, argIn, argOut, false);
		} else if (args.length < 4 || args[3].equalsIgnoreCase("all-newrelease")) {
			buildAll(domain, version, fullVersion, argIn, argOut, true);
		} else if (args[3].equalsIgnoreCase("changelog")) {
			buildChangelog(version, fullVersion, argIn, argOut);
		} else if (args[3].equalsIgnoreCase("download-edge")) {
			buildDownloadEdge(version, fullVersion, argIn, argOut);
		} else if (args[3].equalsIgnoreCase("changelog-latest")) {
			buildChangelogLatest(version, fullVersion, argIn, argOut);
		} else if (args[3].equalsIgnoreCase("print-allversions")) {
			printAllVersions(domain);
		} else {
			throw new IllegalArgumentException("4th argument must be one of 'all', 'changelog', 'download-edge', 'changelog-latest'");
		}
	}
	
	private Configuration makeFreemarkerConfig() throws IOException {
		Configuration freemarkerConfig = new Configuration(Configuration.VERSION_2_3_25);
		freemarkerConfig.setEncoding(Locale.ENGLISH, "UTF-8");
		freemarkerConfig.setOutputEncoding("UTF-8");
		freemarkerConfig.setOutputFormat(HTMLOutputFormat.INSTANCE);
		freemarkerConfig.setTemplateLoader(createLoader());
		freemarkerConfig.setTemplateExceptionHandler(TemplateExceptionHandler.RETHROW_HANDLER);
		return freemarkerConfig;
	}
	
	public void buildChangelog(File out) throws Exception {
		Configuration freemarkerConfig = makeFreemarkerConfig();
		outputDir.mkdirs();
		convertChangelog(freemarkerConfig, out);
	}

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