quarkusio/quarkus · error · DefinitionException

@Named without value may not be used on method parameter:

Error message

@Named without value may not be used on method parameter: 

What it means

The @Named qualifier without an explicit value is only meaningful on classes (derived from the EL name); on a method parameter of an initializer/producer/injector method it has no resolvable value, so ArC throws a DefinitionException.

Source

Thrown at independent-projects/arc/processor/src/main/java/io/quarkus/arc/processor/InjectionPointInfo.java:95

        return fromMethod(method, beanClass, beanDeployment, null, transformer);
    }

    static List<InjectionPointInfo> fromMethod(MethodInfo method, ClassInfo beanClass, BeanDeployment beanDeployment,
            BiPredicate<Set<AnnotationInstance>, Integer> skipPredicate, InjectionPointModifier transformer) {
        List<InjectionPointInfo> injectionPoints = new ArrayList<>();
        for (ListIterator<Type> iterator = method.parameterTypes().listIterator(); iterator.hasNext();) {
            Type paramType = iterator.next();
            int position = iterator.previousIndex();
            Set<AnnotationInstance> paramAnnotations = Annotations.getParameterAnnotations(beanDeployment, method, position);
            if (skipPredicate != null && skipPredicate.test(paramAnnotations, position)) {
                // Skip parameter, e.g. @Disposes
                continue;
            }
            Set<AnnotationInstance> paramQualifiers = new HashSet<>();
            for (AnnotationInstance paramAnnotation : paramAnnotations) {
                for (AnnotationInstance annotationInstance : beanDeployment.extractQualifiers(paramAnnotation)) {
                    if (isNamedWithoutValue(annotationInstance)) {
                        throw new DefinitionException("@Named without value may not be used on method parameter: " + method);
                    }
                    paramQualifiers.add(annotationInstance);
                }
            }
            Type type = resolveType(paramType, beanClass, method.declaringClass(), beanDeployment);
            injectionPoints.add(new InjectionPointInfo(type,
                    transformer.applyTransformers(type, method, method.parameters().get(position), paramQualifiers),
                    method, method.parameters().get(position), contains(paramAnnotations, DotNames.TRANSIENT_REFERENCE),
                    contains(paramAnnotations, DotNames.DELEGATE)));
        }
        return injectionPoints;
    }

    public static InjectionPointInfo fromSyntheticInjectionPoint(TypeAndQualifiers typeAndQualifiers) {
        return new InjectionPointInfo(typeAndQualifiers, InjectionPointKind.CDI, null, null, false, false);
    }

    private final TypeAndQualifiers typeAndQualifiers;

View on GitHub (pinned to e1c734241f)

Solutions

1. Give @Named an explicit value: @Named("myName")
2. Replace bare @Named with a proper qualifier annotation
3. Remove @Named from the parameter if it is not needed

Example fix

// before
void init(@Named String name) {}
// after
void init(@Named("myName") String name) {}

for (Method m : MyClass.class.getDeclaredMethods()) {
    for (Annotation[] pa : m.getParameterAnnotations()) {
        for (Annotation a : pa) {
            if (a instanceof jakarta.inject.Named n && n.value().isEmpty()) {
                throw new IllegalStateException("Bare @Named on parameter: " + m);
            }
        }
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Annotating a method parameter with bare @Named (no value) where qualifiers are extracted, e.g. an initializer or producer method parameter; detected in InjectionPointInfo.fromMethod.

Common situations: Copy-pasting @Named from class-level usage onto parameters; expecting @Named on a parameter to act like @Named("x") elsewhere.

Related errors

• Qualifier annotation '${qualifierClass}' contains a member '
• Stereotype must not declare @Named with a non-empty value: $
• The qualifier ${aClass} was used repeatedly but it is not an
• Error checking value of member method ${methodName} on ${dec
• Annotation is not a registered qualifier: ${annotationType}

AI-assisted analysis of quarkusio/quarkus@e1c734241f (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fc5271fb5d1c5eb2. Report an issue: GitHub.