quarkusio/quarkus · error · GradleException

Failed to build AOT enhanced container image:

Error message

Failed to build AOT enhanced container image: 

What it means

BuildAotEnhancedImageWorker runs the Quarkus bootstrap in a Gradle worker to build an AOT-enhanced container image (used for AOT-optimized JVM container builds). When the bootstrap throws BootstrapException, the worker rethrows it as a GradleException, including e.getMessage(). It means the Quarkus application AOT container-image build step failed during bootstrap.

Source

Thrown at devtools/gradle/gradle-application-plugin/src/main/java/io/quarkus/gradle/tasks/worker/BuildAotEnhancedImageWorker.java:45

        try (CuratedApplication curatedApplication = createAppCreationContext()) {
            Map<String, Object> context = Map.of(
                    "original-container-image", originalContainerImage,
                    "container-working-directory", containerWorkingDirectory,
                    "aot-file", aotFile);

            AugmentAction action = curatedApplication.createAugmentor(
                    BuildAotEnhancedCustomizerProducer.class.getName(),
                    context);

            action.performCustomBuild(
                    BuildEnhancedAotContainerImageCommandHandler.class.getName(),
                    null,
                    BuildAotOptimizedContainerImageResultBuildItem.class.getName());

            LOGGER.info("AOT enhanced container image built successfully");
        } catch (BootstrapException e) {
            throw new GradleException("Failed to build AOT enhanced container image: " + e.getMessage(), e);
        }
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to e1c734241f)

Solutions

1. Read the BootstrapException message appended to this error — it names the failing build step or config key.
2. Validate quarkus.* config with ./gradlew quarkusShowEffectiveConfig or check for typos in build configuration.
3. Run the standard quarkusBuild first to confirm the base application build works before the AOT image path.
4. Update Quarkus Gradle plugin and extensions to matching versions (mixed versions often break bootstrap).

./gradlew quarkusShowEffectiveConfig  # validate quarkus.* config before AOT build
./gradlew quarkusBuild                   # confirm the base build succeeds first

try {
    ./gradlew buildAotEnhancedImage
} catch (GradleException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().startsWith("Failed to build AOT enhanced container image:")) {
        // act on the BootstrapException message embedded in the error text
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running an AOT container image build task (e.g. via quarkusBuild with AOT-enabled image building) where QuarkusBootstrap.builder(...).buildInitialRuntimeApplication() or running the build step chain throws BootstrapException — missing application model, bad configuration, or a failing build step.

Common situations: Invalid or missing quarkus.* configuration for AOT image building; classpath/application model resolution failure; unsupported plugin/extension combination for the AOT path; missing GraalVM/native-tooling-related config when invoking from Gradle worker.

Related errors

• Task: %s requires extensions: %s. To add the extensions to t
• Task: %s requires one of the extensions: %s. To add the exte
• Failed to run application
• Failed to build Quarkus application for
• Failed to generate sources in the QuarkusGenerateCode task f

AI-assisted analysis of quarkusio/quarkus@e1c734241f (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d0595a3644f092b5. Report an issue: GitHub.