quarkusio/quarkus · error · MojoFailureException

Failed to run

Error message

Failed to run

What it means

DevMojo.execute wraps the entire dev-mode lifecycle (starting the runner, restarting on file changes, terminal handling) in a try block and converts any Exception into MojoFailureException 'Failed to run' with the original cause attached. It is a generic wrapper; the real cause is the chained exception printed below it.

Source

Thrown at devtools/maven/src/main/java/io/quarkus/maven/DevMojo.java:594

                        // stop the runner before we build the new one as the debug port being free
                        // is tested when building the runner
                        runner.stop();

                        final DevModeRunner newRunner;
                        try {
                            bootstrapId = handleAutoCompile(changedPoms);
                            newRunner = new DevModeRunner(runner.commandLine.getDebugPort(), bootstrapId, pomFiles.keySet());
                        } catch (Exception e) {
                            getLog().info("Could not load changedPoms pom.xml file, changes not applied", e);
                            continue;
                        }
                        newRunner.run();
                        runner = newRunner;
                    }
                }
            }
        } catch (Exception e) {
            throw new MojoFailureException("Failed to run", e);
        }
    }

    private List<String> collectChangeFilesFrom(Map<Path, Long> paths) throws IOException {
        // unless it's a git or some other command, there won't be many files modified in 100 milliseconds
        List<String> changedFiles = new ArrayList<>(1);
        for (Map.Entry<Path, Long> e : paths.entrySet()) {
            long t = Files.getLastModifiedTime(e.getKey()).toMillis();
            if (t > e.getValue()) {
                changedFiles.add(e.getKey().toString());
                paths.put(e.getKey(), t);
            }
        }
        return changedFiles;
    }

    private void logChanges(List<String> changedFiles) {
        final StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder().append("Restarting dev mode following changes in ");

View on GitHub (pinned to e1c734241f)

Solutions

1. Read the 'Caused by:' section of the stack trace — it holds the actual failure.
2. Fix the underlying cause (config error, compilation failure, missing dependency) rather than this wrapper.
3. Clean and rebuild (mvn clean install -DskipTests) if state from a previous run is corrupt.
4. Update the Quarkus Maven plugin and Quarkus versions to matching, recent releases if the crash is a plugin bug.

Example fix

// diagnose
mvn quarkus:dev -e  # inspect 'Caused by:'
// common fix
clean broken target state
mvn clean install -DskipTests && mvn quarkus:dev

// verify a clean build state first
mvn clean install -DskipTests

try {
    runDevMode();
} catch (MojoFailureException e) {
    // this message is generic; always surface the root cause
    Throwable root = e;
    while (root.getCause() != null) root = root.getCause();
    log.error("Dev mode failed: " + root.getMessage(), root);
}

When it happens

Trigger: Any exception thrown while running or restarting the dev-mode runner: failure to launch the JVM, errors during hot-reload handling, IO problems watching files, or the MojoExecutionException from a failed dev process propagating up.

Common situations: Application crash during dev session (see root cause); file watcher failures on network drives; exception during runner restart after a POM change; JDK incompatibility when spawning the dev process.

Related errors

• Dev mode process did not complete successfully
• Failed to obtain descriptor for Maven plugin <pluginId> goal
• Local dependency <module> does not appear to have any source
• Hot reloadable dependency <moduleId> has not been compiled y
• Top-level project base directory <dir> specified with system

AI-assisted analysis of quarkusio/quarkus@e1c734241f (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5d8184a58034daad. Report an issue: GitHub.