quarkusio/quarkus · error · UnableToParseMethodException

Method ${repositoryMethodDescription} cannot be parsed as th

Error message

Method ${repositoryMethodDescription} cannot be parsed as there is no proper 'By' clause in the name.

What it means

MethodNameParser requires a 'By' separator followed by criteria to split the method name into predicate parts. When the derived-query method name contains no 'By' (or 'By' is the last token), parsing fails with UnableToParseMethodException.

Source

Thrown at extensions/spring-data-jpa/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/spring/data/deployment/MethodNameParser.java:101

    public Result parse(MethodInfo methodInfo) {
        String methodName = methodInfo.name();
        ClassInfo repositoryClassInfo = methodInfo.declaringClass();
        String repositoryMethodDescription = "'" + methodName + "' of repository '" + repositoryClassInfo + "'";
        QueryType queryType = getType(methodName);
        String entityAlias = getEntityName().toLowerCase();
        // The SELECT clause is necessary after https://hibernate.atlassian.net/browse/HHH-18584
        String selectClause = queryType == QueryType.SELECT ? "SELECT " + entityAlias + " " : "";
        String fromClause = "FROM " + getEntityName() + " AS " + entityAlias;
        String joinClause = "";
        if (queryType == null) {
            throw new UnableToParseMethodException("Method " + repositoryMethodDescription
                    + " cannot be parsed. Did you forget to annotate the method with '@Query'?");
        }

        int byIndex = methodName.indexOf("By");
        if ((byIndex == -1) || (byIndex + 2 >= methodName.length())) {
            throw new UnableToParseMethodException("Method " + repositoryMethodDescription
                    + " cannot be parsed as there is no proper 'By' clause in the name.");
        }

        // handle 'Top' and 'First'
        Integer topCount = null;
        int minFirstOrTopIndex = Math.min(indexOfOrMaxValue(methodName, "First"), indexOfOrMaxValue(methodName, "Top"));
        // 'First' and 'Top' could be part of a field name, so we only consider them as part of a top query
        // if they are found before 'By'
        if (minFirstOrTopIndex < byIndex) {
            if (queryType != QueryType.SELECT) {
                throw new UnableToParseMethodException(
                        "When 'Top' or 'First' is specified, the query must be a find query. Offending method is "
                                + repositoryMethodDescription + ".");
            }
            try {
                String topCountStr = methodName.substring(minFirstOrTopIndex, byIndex)
                        .replace("Top", "").replace("First", "");
                if (topCountStr.isEmpty()) {

View on GitHub (pinned to e1c734241f)

Solutions

Add criteria after 'By', e.g. findAll -> findAllBy... or better use @Query for unfiltered selects
For no-filter queries use @Query("FROM User") or count/delete variants with explicit @Query
Remove the trailing dangling 'By' from the method name
Implement the method in a custom repository fragment (Entity_Manager delegate) instead

Example fix

// before
List<User> findAll();
// after
@Query("FROM User")
List<User> findAll();

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// method name must contain 'By' with criteria after it
boolean ok = methodName.contains("By")
          && methodName.indexOf("By") + 2 < methodName.length();

Try / catch

// Build-time failure; fix by adding criteria or @Query:
// @Query("FROM User") List<User> findAll();

Prevention

Don't expect findAll()/getAll() to be derived — use @Query or a base repository
Never leave a dangling 'By' at the end of a method name
Lint repo interfaces for the By-clause pattern

When it happens

Trigger: Methods like `List<User> findAll();` in a Spring-style derived query repo (not supported here without @Query), or `findByNameBy` / `findByNameBy` with 'By' at the end — byIndex == -1 or byIndex+2 >= methodName.length().

Common situations: findAll()/getAll() declared expecting Spring Data's built-in handling; typo leaving a dangling 'By' (e.g. `findBy`); generated method names truncated.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of quarkusio/quarkus@e1c734241f (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4aeb3e829701bf49. Report an issue: GitHub.