What causes "Parameter 'mode' was set to ' ' while expected one of 'dev', 'test' or 'prod'" in quarkusio/quarkus?

Set mode to dev, test, or prod (or omit it)

quarkusio/quarkus · error · MojoExecutionException

Parameter 'mode' was set to '<mode>' while expected one of '

Error message

Parameter 'mode' was set to '<mode>' while expected one of 'dev', 'test' or 'prod'

What it means

DependencySbomMojo.resolveApplicationModel mirrors DependencyListMojo: the 'mode' parameter must be one of test, dev/development, or prod (empty = default prod). Any other value throws a MojoExecutionException with the invalid value and accepted options. This mojo generates an SBOM, so it fails before SBOM generation starts.

Source

Thrown at devtools/maven/src/main/java/io/quarkus/maven/DependencySbomMojo.java:146

    }

    private ApplicationModel resolveApplicationModel()
            throws MojoExecutionException {
        final ArtifactCoords appArtifact = ArtifactCoords.pom(project.getGroupId(), project.getArtifactId(),
                project.getVersion());
        final BootstrapAppModelResolver modelResolver;
        try {
            modelResolver = new BootstrapAppModelResolver(getResolver())
                    .setRuntimeModelOnly(runtimeOnly);
            if (mode != null) {
                if (mode.equalsIgnoreCase("test")) {
                    modelResolver.setTest(true);
                } else if (mode.equalsIgnoreCase("dev") || mode.equalsIgnoreCase("development")) {
                    modelResolver.setDevMode(true);
                } else if (mode.equalsIgnoreCase("prod") || mode.isEmpty()) {
                    // ignore, that's the default
                } else {
                    throw new MojoExecutionException(
                            "Parameter 'mode' was set to '" + mode + "' while expected one of 'dev', 'test' or 'prod'");
                }
            }
            modelResolver.setLegacyModelResolver(BootstrapAppModelResolver.isLegacyModelResolver(project.getProperties()));
            return modelResolver.resolveModel(appArtifact);
        } catch (Exception e) {
            throw new MojoExecutionException("Failed to resolve application model " + appArtifact + " dependencies", e);
        }
    }

    private String getSbomFilename() {
        var a = project.getArtifact();
        var sb = new StringBuilder().append(a.getArtifactId()).append("-").append(a.getVersion()).append("-");
        if (!"prod".equalsIgnoreCase(mode)) {
            sb.append(mode).append("-");
        }
        return sb.append("dependency-cyclonedx").append(".").append(format).toString();
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to e1c734241f)

Solutions

Set mode to dev, test, or prod (or omit it)
Use the exact spelling from the error message
Audit CI scripts that pass mode dynamically and validate the value

Example fix

// before
mvn quarkus:dependency-sbom -Dmode=prod-mode
// after
mvn quarkus:dependency-sbom -Dmode=prod

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Validate the mode value before invoking the SBOM goal
java.util.Set<String> VALID = java.util.Set.of("dev", "development", "test", "prod", "");
if (!VALID.contains(mode == null ? "" : mode.trim())) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("mode must be one of dev, test, prod (got: " + mode + ")");
}

Try / catch

try {
    mojo.execute();
} catch (MojoExecutionException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().contains("Parameter 'mode' was set to")) {
        // re-run with -Dmode=dev|test|prod or omit the property
    }
}

Prevention

Standardize mode values (dev/test/prod) across all Quarkus mojo invocations
Validate CI-generated mode parameters before passing them via -D
Document accepted aliases (development) to prevent guesswork

When it happens

Trigger: Running quarkus:dependency-sbom with -Dmode set to an unsupported value such as 'production' or a profile name; only checked when mode is configured (the guard sits inside an if block).

Common situations: Copying mode values from other tooling/CI environments; typo in the mode property; misunderstandings about accepted aliases (only dev/development/test/prod/empty are accepted).

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of quarkusio/quarkus@e1c734241f (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/22cc1696bc2edaa8. Report an issue: GitHub.