stanfordnlp/CoreNLP · error · IllegalArgumentException

Invalid feature name '

Error message

Invalid feature name '

What it means

TregexPoweredTreebankParserParams.addFeature looks up the requested feature name in the static 'annotations' registry; unknown names throw IllegalArgumentException('Invalid feature name ...'). Only pre-registered annotation feature names (defined in the annotations map) may be added via -annotator style options.

Solutions

1. Use a feature name defined in TregexPoweredTreebankParserParams.annotations (check the source for the exact list).
2. Fix spelling/case of the feature name in your options file.
3. Call compileAnnotations() before addFeature() if wiring the params programmatically.
4. Verify the feature exists in your library version; upgrade/downgrade if the feature was added later.

Example fix

// before
params.setOptionFlag(new String[]{"-annotator", "SemanticHead"}, 0);
// after (use a registered feature name)
params.setOptionFlag(new String[]{"-annotator", "HeadOfNp"}, 0);

if (!TregexPoweredTreebankParserParams.annotations.containsKey(featureName))
  throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unknown annotation feature: " + featureName);

try {
  params.addFeature(name);
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
  System.err.println("Invalid feature '" + name + "'; check the annotations registry in TregexPoweredTreebankParserParams");
}

When it happens

Trigger: Passing an unrecognized feature name to TregexPoweredTreebankParserParams (e.g., via the -annotator option or annotate.addFeature API) that has no entry in the annotations map, or before compileAnnotations was called (which then throws the related RuntimeException).

Common situations: Typos in feature names in training configs, copying feature names from a different parser version where the registry changed, or calling addFeature before compileAnnotations().

Understand the failure class

Background: "Must be a positive integer", "Invalid value", "Unsupported": the invalid-argument-value error family, when a library rejects the value you pass — this error's family across 35 libraries.

Related errors

• FrenchLexer: Invalid option value in constructor: :
• Invalid value for -distanceBin:
• Not a valid dashes style:
• : Invalid options key in constructor: %n
• Unknown clique: " + clique

AI-assisted analysis of stanfordnlp/CoreNLP@1b7edd19c4 (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8277784500ba4bb6. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/edu/stanford/nlp/parser/lexparser/TregexPoweredTreebankParserParams.java:141

      Pair<TregexPattern, Function<TregexMatcher, String>> behavior =
              new Pair<>(compiled, annotation.getValue().second());

      annotationPatterns.put(annotation.getKey(), behavior);
    }
  }

  /**
   * Enable an annotation feature. If the provided feature has already
   * been enabled, this method does nothing.
   *
   * @param featureName
   * @throws java.lang.IllegalArgumentException If the provided feature
   *           name is unknown (i.e., if there is no entry in the
   *           {@link #annotations} collection with the same name)
   */
  protected void addFeature(String featureName) {
    if (!annotations.containsKey(featureName))
      throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid feature name '" + featureName + "'");
    if (!annotationPatterns.containsKey(featureName))
      throw new RuntimeException("Compiled patterns out of sync with annotations data structure;" +
        "did you call compileAnnotations?");

    features.add(featureName);
  }

  /**
   * Disable a feature. If the feature was never enabled, this method
   * returns without error.
   *
   * @param featureName
   */
  protected void removeFeature(String featureName) {
    features.remove(featureName);
  }

  /**

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