quarkusio/quarkus · error · IllegalStateException

Unable to find source block delimiter for property ${propert

Error message

Unable to find source block delimiter for property ${propertyPath} at line ${lineNumber}

What it means

AsciidocFormatter.rewriteAnchors post-processes descriptions that embed source blocks; when it expects the [source,...] delimiter line it instead finds a non-blank, non-delimiter line and throws IllegalStateException naming the property and line number. It guards the formatter's assumption about generated asciidoc structure.

Source

Thrown at devtools/config-doc-maven-plugin/src/main/java/io/quarkus/maven/config/doc/generator/AsciidocFormatter.java:104

        StringBuilder rewrittenGuide = new StringBuilder();
        StringBuilder currentBuffer = new StringBuilder();
        boolean inSourceBlock = false;
        boolean findDelimiter = false;
        String currentSourceBlockDelimiter = "----";
        int lineNumber = 0;

        for (String line : lines) {
            lineNumber++;

            if (inSourceBlock) {
                if (findDelimiter) {
                    rewrittenGuide.append(line + "\n");
                    if (line.isBlank() || line.startsWith(".")) {
                        continue;
                    }
                    if (!line.startsWith(SOURCE_BLOCK_DELIMITER)) {
                        throw new IllegalStateException("Unable to find source block delimiter for property "
                                + propertyPath + " at line " + lineNumber);
                    }
                    currentSourceBlockDelimiter = line.stripTrailing();
                    findDelimiter = false;
                    continue;
                }

                if (line.stripTrailing().equals(currentSourceBlockDelimiter)) {
                    inSourceBlock = false;
                }
                rewrittenGuide.append(line + "\n");
                continue;
            }
            if (line.startsWith(SOURCE_BLOCK_PREFIX)) {
                inSourceBlock = true;
                findDelimiter = true;

                if (currentBuffer.length() > 0) {

View on GitHub (pinned to e1c734241f)

Solutions

1. Fix the description/javadoc of the reported propertyPath so any source block starts with the proper [source,...] delimiter line
2. Compare with a working config item's description formatting and mirror its structure
3. Report/upgrade if the plugin's formatter changed format expectations between versions

Example fix

// before (javadoc of the property)
Some code:
HttpServer http = ...;
// after
Some code:
[source,java]
HttpServer http = ...;

// Pre-check: every description with a source block must declare the delimiter
if (description.contains("[source") && !description.contains("[source,")) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("Malformed source block in: " + propertyPath);
}

try {
    mojo.execute();
} catch (IllegalStateException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().startsWith("Unable to find source block delimiter")) {
        // parse propertyPath/lineNumber from message and fix that javadoc
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: formatDescription processes a property whose javadoc/description contains a partial or malformed source block: content appears after the opening marker without the expected delimiter, or the description text was hand-edited into an unexpected shape.

Common situations: Custom javadoc in a config item includes asciidoc source syntax the formatter cannot parse; a template/format change altered line structure; trailing '.' lines interrupted the expected layout.

Related errors

• Conversion from Markdown to Asciidoc is not supported
• One or more errors happened during the configuration documen

AI-assisted analysis of quarkusio/quarkus@e1c734241f (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a8e15d6f9283c382. Report an issue: GitHub.