What causes "Unable to get user input" in quarkusio/quarkus?

Supply all values via -D properties (-DextensionId, -DextensionName, -DextensionDescription, -DgroupId, -Dversion) so no prompt is needed

quarkusio/quarkus · error · MojoExecutionException

Unable to get user input

Error message

Unable to get user input

What it means

The interactive prompt loop for extension id/name/description wraps IOException from the prompter (console I/O) into a MojoExecutionException. It means the plugin could not read the user's input from the terminal while collecting required values.

Source

Thrown at devtools/maven/src/main/java/io/quarkus/maven/CreateExtensionMojo.java:338

            return;
        }
        try {
            final Prompter prompter = new Prompter();
            if (project == null || !project.getArtifactId().endsWith("quarkus-parent")) {
                if (isBlank(quarkusVersion)) {
                    quarkusVersion = getPluginVersion();
                }
                if (isBlank(groupId)) {
                    prompter.addPrompt("Set the extension groupId: ", "org.acme", input -> groupId = input);
                }
            }
            autoComputeQuarkiverseExtensionId();
            if (isBlank(extensionId)) {
                prompter.addPrompt("Set the extension id: ", input -> extensionId = input);
            }
            prompter.collectInput();
        } catch (IOException e) {
            throw new MojoExecutionException("Unable to get user input", e);
        }
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to e1c734241f)

Solutions

Supply all values via -D properties (-DextensionId, -DextensionName, -DextensionDescription, -DgroupId, -Dversion) so no prompt is needed
Run the command in an interactive terminal with stdin attached
For CI, use a non-interactive invocation with all required -D flags set
Avoid redirecting stdin when invoking Maven

Example fix

// before
mvn quarkus:create-extension  // no TTY in CI -> prompts fail
// after
mvn -B quarkus:create-extension -DextensionId=my-ext -DextensionName="My ext" -DgroupId=org.acme -Dversion=1.0.0-SNAPSHOT

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// ensure no prompt will be needed before invoking in CI
boolean hasTty = System.console() != null;
boolean valuesProvided = System.getProperties().containsKey("extensionId");
if (!hasTty && !valuesProvided)
    throw new IllegalStateException("Non-interactive run: pass -DextensionId (and other values) to avoid prompts");

Try / catch

try {
    mvn quarkus:create-extension ...
} catch (MojoExecutionException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().startsWith("Unable to get user input")) {
        logger.error("No interactive console; rerun with all -D values set (e.g. -DextensionId)");
    }
}

Prevention

In CI, always supply every prompted value via -D properties
Never redirect stdin when running interactive Maven goals
Use -B (batch mode) plus full -D flags for reproducible scaffolding

When it happens

Trigger: prompter.collectInput() (or addPrompt callbacks reading stdin) throws IOException because there is no interactive console — raised in promptValues, called from execute when extensionId (or other values) is blank.

Common situations: Running quarkus:create-extension in CI without a TTY, redirected stdin (mvn < file), IDE Maven runners with no console attached, docker exec without -t.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of quarkusio/quarkus@e1c734241f (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3fdca37249a6c644. Report an issue: GitHub.