quarkusio/quarkus · error · QuarkusUpdateException

Error while running Gradle rewrite command, see the…

Error message

Error while running Gradle rewrite command, see the execution logs above for more details

What it means

runGradleUpdate() writes a temporary OpenRewrite init script (openrewrite-init.gradle), resolves the Gradle binary, and invokes gradle rewriteRun/rewriteDryRun via executeRewrite(). If anything fails in that flow other than a QuarkusUpdateException already thrown (e.g. the Gradle build fails, the init script cannot be written/read), it is wrapped in QuarkusUpdateException with a generic message telling the user to inspect the execution logs printed above.

Solutions

Read the Gradle execution output printed just above the error (and the --stacktrace output); the root cause is there, not in this message.
Make sure the project compiles first: run `./gradlew compileJava compileTestJava` and fix errors before re-running the update.
Verify network/repo access to Maven Central so the OpenRewrite Gradle plugin and recipes GAV can be resolved.
Re-run with a dry run first (`quarkus update --dry-run`) to isolate recipe failures from applied changes.
If the nested cause shows a missing init-script resource, verify the quarkus update CLI and extension versions are consistent (do not mix a newer CLI with older devtools).

Example fix

// before: update fails because the project does not compile
$ quarkus update
Error while running Gradle rewrite command, see the execution logs above for more details
  Caused by: ... compilation error

// after: fix compilation first, then update
$ ./gradlew compileJava   # fix reported errors
$ quarkus update

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

import java.nio.file.*;

static void validateGradleProject(Path baseDir) throws IllegalStateException {
    if (!(Files.exists(baseDir.resolve("build.gradle"))
            || Files.exists(baseDir.resolve("build.gradle.kts")))) {
        throw new IllegalStateException("No Gradle build file in " + baseDir);
    }
    if (!Files.isExecutable(baseDir.resolve("gradlew"))
            && nativeCommand("gradle") == null) {
        throw new IllegalStateException("gradlew missing in project and gradle not on PATH");
    }
}

Try / catch

try {
    QuarkusUpdateCommand.handle(log, BuildTool.GRADLE, baseDir, rewritePluginVersion, recipesGAV, recipe, logFile, dryRun);
} catch (QuarkusUpdateException e) {
    // real cause is in the nested exception / printed Gradle logs
    e.getCause().printStackTrace();
    log.error("Gradle rewrite failed: %s. Check the Gradle output above and the log file %s.",
        e.getCause() != null ? e.getCause().getMessage() : e.getMessage(), logFile);
}

Prevention

Run `./gradlew compileJava compileTestJava` (or --dry-run first) before `quarkus update` so compilation errors surface early.
Ensure network/proxy settings (gradle.properties, init scripts) allow downloading the OpenRewrite Gradle plugin and recipe artifacts.
Keep the Quarkus CLI and project Quarkus version aligned; use a Gradle version compatible with the rewrite plugin.
Always pass --log-file (or capture output) when scripting the update so the root cause is preserved.

When it happens

Trigger: QuarkusUpdateCommand.handle() -> runGradleUpdate() on a Gradle project where: (a) the Gradle rewriteRun/rewriteDryRun execution exits with an error (compilation failures, recipe/plugin download failures, incompatible Gradle version), (b) the classpath resource /openrewrite-init.gradle is missing (inputStream null), or (c) reading/writing the temp init script throws IOException.

Common situations: Running `quarkus update` on a Gradle project whose code does not compile before migration, corporate proxies or repositories blocking download of the OpenRewrite Gradle plugin, or a Gradle version too old for the rewrite plugin's API (e.g. rewriteDryRun task missing).

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of quarkusio/quarkus@e1c734241f (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/95f4322ccd83462b. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at independent-projects/tools/devtools-common/src/main/java/io/quarkus/devtools/project/update/rewrite/QuarkusUpdateCommand.java:124

                                "rewriteFile", rewriteFile,
                                "pluginVersion", rewritePluginVersion,
                                "recipesGAV", recipesGAV,
                                "activeRecipe", RECIPE_IO_QUARKUS_OPENREWRITE_QUARKUS,
                                "plainTextMask", ADDITIONAL_SOURCE_FILES_SET.stream()
                                        .map(s -> "\"" + s + "\"")
                                        .collect(Collectors.joining(", ")))));
            }
            final String gradleBinary = findGradleBinary(baseDir);
            List<String> command = List.of(gradleBinary.toString(), "--console", "plain", "--stacktrace",
                    "--init-script",
                    tempInit.toAbsolutePath().toString(), dryRun ? "rewriteDryRun" : "rewriteRun");
            Map<String, List<String>> commands = new LinkedHashMap<>();
            commands.put(getRewriteCommandName(rewritePluginVersion, dryRun), command);
            executeRewrite(baseDir, commands, log, logFile);
        } catch (QuarkusUpdateException e) {
            throw e;
        } catch (Exception e) {
            throw new QuarkusUpdateException(
                    "Error while running Gradle rewrite command, see the execution logs above for more details", e);
        } finally {
            if (tempInit != null) {
                try {
                    Files.deleteIfExists(tempInit);
                } catch (Exception e) {
                    // ignore
                }
            }

        }
    }

    private static String getMavenSettingsArg() {
        final String mavenSettings = System.getProperty("maven.settings");
        if (mavenSettings != null) {
            return Files.exists(Paths.get(mavenSettings)) ? mavenSettings : null;
        }

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