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

DependencyListMojo.resolveApplicationModel accepts a 'mode' parameter controlling the BootstrapAppModelResolver: test, dev/development, or prod (default/empty). Any other value throws a MojoExecutionException stating the invalid mode and the three accepted options.

Source

Thrown at devtools/maven/src/main/java/io/quarkus/maven/DependencyListMojo.java:237

        }
        return result;
    }

    private ApplicationModel resolveApplicationModel(int flags) throws MojoExecutionException {
        final ArtifactCoords appArtifact = ArtifactCoords.pom(project.getGroupId(), project.getArtifactId(),
                project.getVersion());
        final BootstrapAppModelResolver modelResolver;
        try {
            modelResolver = new BootstrapAppModelResolver(resolver())
                    .setRuntimeModelOnly(((flags & DependencyFlags.RUNTIME_CP) > 0));
            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);
        }
    }

    protected MavenArtifactResolver resolver() {
        return resolver == null
                ? resolver = workspaceProvider.createArtifactResolver(BootstrapMavenContext.config()
                        .setUserSettings(session.getRequest().getUserSettingsFile())
                        .setRemoteRepositories(repos)
                        .setPreferPomsFromWorkspace(true))
                : resolver;
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to e1c734241f)

Solutions

1. Set mode to exactly one of dev, test, or prod (or leave it empty for prod)
2. Use 'development' if you prefer the long form of dev
3. Strip whitespace/quotes from the property in your CI script

Example fix

// before
mvn quarkus:dependency-list -Dmode=production
// after
mvn quarkus:dependency-list -Dmode=prod

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

When it happens

Trigger: Running the goal with -Dmode=<value> (or pom config) set to something other than dev, development, test, prod, or empty — e.g. 'production', 'qa', or a misspelled value.

Common situations: Assuming 'production' works instead of 'prod'; passing environment names from other tooling (CI profiles); quoting/whitespace issues leaving stray characters in the mode value; upgrading from older versions with looser validation.

Related errors

• Unrecognized dependency flag '<trimmed>'. Supported flags: O
• Parameter 'mode' was set to '<mode>' while expected one of '
• Parameter 'mode' was set to '<mode>' while expected one of '
• Manifest entry name ${key} is invalid. " characters are not
• Manifest section name ${section} is invalid. " characters ar

AI-assisted analysis of quarkusio/quarkus@e1c734241f (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/94aa646287497a1f. Report an issue: GitHub.