quarkusio/quarkus · error · IllegalArgumentException

Invalid coordinates '${str}': groupId and artifactId separat

Q: What causes "Invalid coordinates '${str}': groupId and artifactId separating character ':' is absent or not in the right place in the substring ending at index ${fromIndex}: '${str.substring(0, fromIndex)}'" in quarkusio/quarkus?

Ensure the coordinate string contains groupId:artifactId before any classifier/type/version segments

Error message

Invalid coordinates '${str}': groupId and artifactId separating character ':' is absent or not in the right place in the substring ending at index ${fromIndex}: '${str.substring(0, fromIndex)}'

What it means

GACT.split(String, String[], int) parses trailing coordinate segments from a start index backwards; it throws IllegalArgumentException when searching backwards from fromIndex it cannot find a valid ':' separating groupId from artifactId (index <= 0). The substring ending at fromIndex therefore lacks a well-placed G:A separator.

Source

Thrown at independent-projects/bootstrap/app-model/src/main/java/io/quarkus/maven/dependency/GACT.java:78

    public GACT(String groupId, String artifactId) {
        this(groupId, artifactId, null);
    }

    public GACT(String groupId, String artifactId, String classifier) {
        this(groupId, artifactId, classifier, null);
    }

    public GACT(String groupId, String artifactId, String classifier, String type) {
        this.groupId = groupId;
        this.artifactId = artifactId;
        this.classifier = classifier == null ? ArtifactCoords.DEFAULT_CLASSIFIER : classifier;
        this.type = type;
    }

    public static String[] split(String str, String[] parts, int fromIndex) {
        int i = str.lastIndexOf(':', fromIndex - 1);
        if (i <= 0) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid coordinates '" + str
                    + "': groupId and artifactId separating character ':' is absent or not in the right place in the substring ending at index "
                    + fromIndex + ": '" + str.substring(0, fromIndex));
        }
        parts[3] = str.substring(i + 1, fromIndex);
        fromIndex = i;
        i = str.lastIndexOf(':', fromIndex - 1);
        if (i > 0) {
            if (i == fromIndex - 1) {
                parts[2] = ArtifactCoords.DEFAULT_CLASSIFIER;
            } else {
                parts[2] = str.substring(i + 1, fromIndex);
            }

            fromIndex = i;
            i = str.lastIndexOf(':', fromIndex - 1);
            if (i < 0) {
                parts[0] = str.substring(0, fromIndex);
                if ((parts[1] = parts[2]).isEmpty()) {

View on GitHub (pinned to e1c734241f)

Solutions

Ensure the coordinate string contains groupId:artifactId before any classifier/type/version segments
Check the segment before fromIndex contains at least one ':' not at index 0
If you only have artifactId, prepend the groupId you intend to use

Example fix

// before
GACT.split("app:1.0", new String[5], 3); // throws
// after
GACT.split("com.acme:app:1.0", new String[5], 11);

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

boolean hasGaSeparator(String s, int fromIndex) {
    int i = s.lastIndexOf(':', fromIndex - 1);
    return i > 0;
}

Try / catch

try {
    GACT.split(str, parts, fromIndex);
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("Missing groupId:artifactId before index " + fromIndex + " in " + str);
}

Prevention

Always include groupId:artifactId at the start of coordinate strings
When calling split directly, verify fromIndex points past a complete G:A prefix
Prefer the higher-level ArtifactCoords parse methods over manual split calls
Reject strings whose only ':' is at index 0

When it happens

Trigger: Calling GACT.split directly (or indirectly via ArtifactCoords.split) with a fromIndex whose preceding substring has no ':' or has ':' at position 0 — e.g. "artifact:1.0" parsed with fromIndex=5, or ":jar:1.0".

Common situations: Passing coords missing the groupId (artifactId-only strings); custom parsers computing fromIndex incorrectly; strings where the only ':' is at the very start.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of quarkusio/quarkus@e1c734241f (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/dbb84ac2419c36d9. Report an issue: GitHub.