spring-projects/spring-framework · error · IllegalStateException

Cannot get bean name; not set on MethodInvocation: {mi}

Error message

Cannot get bean name; not set on MethodInvocation: {mi}

What it means

getBeanName throws IllegalStateException when the invocation is a ProxyMethodInvocation but the BEAN_NAME_ATTRIBUTE user attribute is null, meaning no ExposeBeanNameInterceptor / ExposeBeanNameIntroduction ran in the chain for this invocation. The advisor that would have set the attribute was absent or its pointcut did not match.

Source

Thrown at spring-aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/interceptor/ExposeBeanNameAdvisors.java:76

	 */
	public static String getBeanName() throws IllegalStateException {
		return getBeanName(ExposeInvocationInterceptor.currentInvocation());
	}

	/**
	 * Find the bean name for the given invocation. Assumes that an ExposeBeanNameAdvisor
	 * has been included in the interceptor chain.
	 * @param mi the MethodInvocation that should contain the bean name as an attribute
	 * @return the bean name (never {@code null})
	 * @throws IllegalStateException if the bean name has not been exposed
	 */
	public static String getBeanName(MethodInvocation mi) throws IllegalStateException {
		if (!(mi instanceof ProxyMethodInvocation pmi)) {
			throw new IllegalArgumentException("MethodInvocation is not a Spring ProxyMethodInvocation: " + mi);
		}
		String beanName = (String) pmi.getUserAttribute(BEAN_NAME_ATTRIBUTE);
		if (beanName == null) {
			throw new IllegalStateException("Cannot get bean name; not set on MethodInvocation: " + mi);
		}
		return beanName;
	}

	/**
	 * Create a new advisor that will expose the given bean name,
	 * with no introduction.
	 * @param beanName bean name to expose
	 */
	public static Advisor createAdvisorWithoutIntroduction(String beanName) {
		return new DefaultPointcutAdvisor(new ExposeBeanNameInterceptor(beanName));
	}

	/**
	 * Create a new advisor that will expose the given bean name, introducing
	 * the NamedBean interface to make the bean name accessible without forcing
	 * the target object to be aware of this Spring IoC concept.
	 * @param beanName the bean name to expose

View on GitHub (pinned to e8729d0438)

Solutions

1. Add ExposeBeanNameAdvisors.createAdvisorWithoutIntroduction(beanName) (or the introducing variant) to the proxy's advisor chain.
2. Verify the advisor's pointcut actually matches the invoked method.
3. Only call getBeanName from within an advised invocation that the advisor precedes.

Example fix

// before
ProxyFactory pf = new ProxyFactory(target);
pf.addAdvice(someAdvice);
// no expose-bean-name advisor -> getBeanName() fails

// after
ProxyFactory pf = new ProxyFactory(target);
pf.addAdvisor(ExposeBeanNameAdvisors.createAdvisorWithoutIntroduction("myBean"));
pf.addAdvice(someAdvice);

boolean beanNameExposed(org.springframework.aop.ProxyMethodInvocation pmi) {
    return pmi.getUserAttribute(ExposeBeanNameAdvisors.class.getName() + ".BEAN_NAME") != null;
}

try {
    return ExposeBeanNameAdvisors.getBeanName(mi);
} catch (IllegalStateException ex) {
    // advisor not in chain; degrade gracefully
    return null;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling ExposeBeanNameAdvisors.getBeanName(mi) on an invocation whose interceptor chain did not include createAdvisorWithoutIntroduction(beanName) or createAdvisorIntroducingNamedBean(beanName).

Common situations: Forgetting to register the expose-bean-name advisor; the advisor's pointcut filtered out the method; calling getBeanName on a proxy that was created before the advisor was added.

Related errors

• MethodInvocation is not a Spring ProxyMethodInvocation: {}
• 'argumentNames' property of AbstractAspectJAdvice contains a
• Only afterReturning advice can be used to bind a return valu
• Only afterThrowing advice can be used to bind a thrown excep
• Advice method [{}] requires {} arguments to be bound by name

AI-assisted analysis of spring-projects/spring-framework@e8729d0438 (2026-08-04). Data as JSON: /data/errors/fc4449da866c0bf1.json. Report an issue: GitHub.