spring-projects/spring-boot · error · MojoExecutionException

Unable to find ' ' dependency. Please ensure JUnit is…

Error message

Unable to find '%s' dependency. Please ensure JUnit is correctly configured.

What it means

MojoExecutionException thrown by ProcessTestAotMojo.getJUnitPlatformVersion when junit-platform-commons (group:org.junit.platform, artifact:junit-platform-commons) is absent from the resolved project artifact map. The AOT test processing fork requires the JUnit Platform version to construct the correct launcher classpath, so a missing dependency is fatal.

Solutions

1. Add JUnit Platform dependencies: junit-platform-launcher and junit-jupiter (or include spring-boot-starter-test).
2. Run `mvn dependency:tree -Dscope=test` and confirm org.junit.platform:junit-platform-commons resolves.
3. Remove any <exclusions> on spring-boot-starter-test that strip junit-platform.
4. If using a custom test runner, ensure junit-platform-commons is at least a transitive test dependency.

Example fix

// before: <dependency><groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId><artifactId>spring-boot-starter-test</artifactId><scope>test</scope><exclusions><exclusion><groupId>org.junit.jupiter</groupId><artifactId>junit-jupiter</artifactId></exclusion></exclusions></dependency>
// after:  <dependency><groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId><artifactId>spring-boot-starter-test</artifactId><scope>test</scope></dependency>

// Pre-flight: assert junit-platform-commons is on the test classpath:
String id = "org.junit.platform:junit-platform-commons";
if (!project.getArtifactMap().containsKey(id)
    || project.getArtifactMap().get(id).getBaseVersion() == null) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("Add junit-platform-launcher/junit-jupiter to test deps");
}

try {
    // invoke process-test-aot
} catch (MojoExecutionException ex) {
    if (ex.getMessage().startsWith("Unable to find 'org.junit.platform:junit-platform-commons'")) {
        // add JUnit Platform deps and retry
    }
    throw ex;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Invoking spring-boot:process-test-aot when the project has no JUnit 5 (JUnit Platform) on the test classpath, or when junit-platform-commons has been excluded/transitive-resolution dropped it. platformCommonsArtifact == null OR its baseVersion is null.

Common situations: Project still on JUnit 4 without junit-platform-launcher/engine; spring-boot-starter-test excluded or stripped of junit-platform-commons; BOM override removing the platform; test scope mishandled so the artifact isn't in the artifact map.

Related errors

• Could not build classpath
• A jar or war file is required for building image
• Can't parse ' ' to instant
• Error packaging archive for image
• Failed to generate build-info.properties.

AI-assisted analysis of spring-projects/spring-boot@270dfe353f (2026-08-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/51978e4577f1bbc4. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at build-plugin/spring-boot-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/maven/ProcessTestAotMojo.java:183

	private URL[] addJUnitPlatformLauncher(URL[] classPath) throws Exception {
		String version = getJUnitPlatformVersion();
		DefaultArtifactHandler handler = new DefaultArtifactHandler("jar");
		handler.setIncludesDependencies(true);
		Set<Artifact> artifacts = resolveArtifact(new DefaultArtifact(JUNIT_PLATFORM_GROUP_ID,
				JUNIT_PLATFORM_LAUNCHER_ARTIFACT_ID, version, null, "jar", null, handler));
		Set<URL> fullClassPath = new LinkedHashSet<>(Arrays.asList(classPath));
		for (Artifact artifact : artifacts) {
			fullClassPath.add(artifact.getFile().toURI().toURL());
		}
		return fullClassPath.toArray(URL[]::new);
	}

	private String getJUnitPlatformVersion() throws MojoExecutionException {
		String id = JUNIT_PLATFORM_GROUP_ID + ":" + JUNIT_PLATFORM_COMMONS_ARTIFACT_ID;
		Artifact platformCommonsArtifact = this.project.getArtifactMap().get(id);
		String version = (platformCommonsArtifact != null) ? platformCommonsArtifact.getBaseVersion() : null;
		if (version == null) {
			throw new MojoExecutionException(
					"Unable to find '%s' dependency. Please ensure JUnit is correctly configured.".formatted(id));
		}
		return version;
	}

	private Set<Artifact> resolveArtifact(Artifact artifact) throws Exception {
		CollectRequest collectRequest = new CollectRequest();
		collectRequest.setRoot(RepositoryUtils.toDependency(artifact, null));
		collectRequest.setRepositories(this.project.getRemotePluginRepositories());
		DependencyRequest request = new DependencyRequest();
		request.setCollectRequest(collectRequest);
		request.setFilter(DependencyFilterUtils.classpathFilter(JavaScopes.RUNTIME));
		DependencyResult dependencyResult = this.repositorySystem
			.resolveDependencies(getSession().getRepositorySession(), request);
		return dependencyResult.getArtifactResults()
			.stream()
			.map(ArtifactResult::getArtifact)
			.map(RepositoryUtils::toArtifact)

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