The process completes the flow without connecting to the inbound connector

Camunda 8 Topics
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1

I am encountering an issue where I am unable to connect the inbound connector from the Camunda modeler. Despite this, the process completes the flow without connecting to the inbound connector. Normally, if the c8run service is not running, it should throw an error, but in this case, it is running smoothly in backend. Additionally, the connector ID I am providing inside the @InboundConnector annotation is not being fetched.

Any idea how to resolve this

2

Hi there! :waving_hand:

I can help you troubleshoot this inbound connector issue. Based on your description, this sounds like a Problem where your inbound connector isn’t being properly registered, which explains why the connector ID from your @InboundConnector annotation isn’t being fetched.

Most Common Causes & Solutions

1. Missing Spring Boot Starter Dependency

This is the most frequent cause of inbound connectors not being registered. Add this to your pom.xml:

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter</artifactId>
    <version>3.4.5</version>
</dependency>

Without this dependency, the connector runtime won’t pick up your connector, even though your code runs without errors.

2. Packaging Issues

  • Ensure your connector is packaged as a “jar-with-dependencies”
  • The JAR must be placed in /opt/app or /opt/custom directory in the Docker container
  • Verify the SPI file exists at resources/META-INF/services and matches your connector class name

3. Environment Setup

  • Make sure all services (Zeebe, Operate, Connectors) are fully started before deploying your process
  • Check that Zeebe credentials/environment variables are properly configured
  • Verify the connectors runtime can connect to your Zeebe cluster

Troubleshooting Steps

  1. Check the logs of your connectors container for errors like:

    • Connector 'your-connector-id' is not registered
    • No qualifying bean of type 'io.camunda.zeebe.client.ZeebeClient' available

  2. Verify your element template references the correct connector type matching your @InboundConnector annotation

  3. Test with the official template: Try starting from the connector-template-inbound repository to ensure your setup works with a known-good example

Additional Information Needed

To provide more specific help, could you share:

  • Your Camunda version (format: major.minor.patch)
  • Environment details (SaaS or Self-Managed)
  • Any error logs from the connectors container
  • Your connector’s @InboundConnector annotation and packaging setup

The fact that your code runs without errors when c8run isn’t running suggests the connector isn’t properly connecting to the Camunda runtime, which aligns with a registration issue.

References:

Let me know what you find in the logs and I can help you dig deeper! :magnifying_glass_tilted_left: