Common Camunda Production Errors (and How to Fix Them)

 When a workflow works locally but fails in production — it’s almost always configuration, data, or scaling behavior.

In Camunda Platform deployments, most issues repeat across projects.
This guide lists the most common production problems and their real fixes.

---

📌 Typical Production Symptoms

• Incidents appearing in Operate

• Jobs stuck in retries

• User tasks not visible

• Messages not correlating

• Processes freezing randomly

• High database load

---

🖼️ Camunda Incidents in Production

---

1️⃣ Job Retries Exhausted

Error

No retries left for job

Cause

Worker throws exception repeatedly.

Typical reasons:

• API timeout

• Null pointer

• Validation failure

Fix

Handle business errors vs technical errors separately.

try {
    processPayment();
    jobClient.newCompleteCommand(job.getKey()).send();
} catch (BusinessException e) {
    jobClient.newThrowErrorCommand(job.getKey())
        .errorCode("PAYMENT_DECLINED")
        .send();
} catch (Exception e) {
    jobClient.newFailCommand(job.getKey())
        .retries(job.getRetries()-1)
        .send();
}

---

2️⃣ Message Not Correlating

Error

Process waiting forever.

Cause

Correlation key mismatch.

Common mistake:

Process:

orderId = 123

Message:

orderID = 123

(case sensitive)

Fix

Always use a single constant name across services.

---

3️⃣ User Task Not Visible

Cause

Wrong assignee or group mapping.

Example:

candidateGroups="managers"

But identity provider group name:

manager

Fix

Verify identity mapping in Identity service.

---

🖼️ Tasklist Issue Example

---

4️⃣ Variable Serialization Failure

Error

Cannot deserialize object

Cause

Changing Java class after process instance already running.

Fix

Never store complex Java objects.

Use JSON instead:

Map<String,Object> data = Map.of("amount",100);

---

5️⃣ Gateway Condition Fails Randomly

Cause

Wrong variable type.

Example:

amount = "1000" (String)
amount > 500 (FEEL expects number)

Fix

Validate types before completing task.

---

6️⃣ Process Freezes (No Incidents)

Cause

External worker stopped polling.

Engine waits forever.

Fix

Add worker health monitoring.

---

7️⃣ High Database CPU

Cause

Too many process variables or history level FULL.

Fix

Reduce history level:

history-level: audit

And avoid large payloads.

---

🖼️ Database Load Issue

---

🔐 Production Best Practices

✔ Always model business errors
✔ Use JSON variables
✔ Add retries + backoff
✔ Monitor workers
✔ Limit payload size
✔ Use proper identity mapping

---

📚 Related Articles

• Camunda External Task Pattern

• Camunda Tasklist Human Task Configuration

• Camunda Forms Validation Guide

---

🎯 Conclusion

Most Camunda production failures are predictable.

If you monitor retries, messages, variables, and workers — you can prevent 90% of incidents before users notice.

---

💼 Professional Support Available

If you are facing issues in real projects related to enterprise backend development or workflow automation, I provide paid consulting, production debugging, project support, and focused trainings.

Technologies covered include Java, Spring Boot, PL/SQL, CMS, Azure, and workflow automation (jBPM, Camunda BPM, RHPAM).

📧 Contact: ishikhanirankari@gmail.com | info@realtechnologiesindia.com

🌐 Website: IT Trainings | Digital metal podium