'Found a workflow in the request parameters, but there is no workflowMode' Error when Editing Workflow

Platform Notice: Data Center Only - This article only applies to Atlassian products on the Data Center platform.

Note that this KB was created for the Data Center version of the product. Data Center KBs for non-Data-Center-specific features may also work for Server versions of the product, however they have not been tested. Support for Server* products ended on February 15th 2024. If you are running a Server product, you can visit the Atlassian Server end of support announcement to review your migration options.

*Except Fisheye and Crucible

Symptoms

When editing an existing workflow, JIRA throws the following exception:

1 2 3 4 2008-10-06 12:54:31,691 INFO [STDOUT] 2008-10-06 12:54:31,689 TP-Processor7 ERROR [web.util.component.RequestComponentManager] java.lang.IllegalStateException: Found a 'workflow' in the request parameters, but there is no 'workflowMode'. https://localhost/jira/secure/admin/workflows/ViewWorkflowTransition.jspa?workflowTransition=1&workflowName=jira java.lang.IllegalStateException: Found a 'workflow' in the request parameters, but there is no 'workflowMode'. https://localhost/jira/secure/admin/workflows/ViewWorkflowTransition.jspa?workflowTransition=1&workflowName=jira

Cause

The compiled JSP files have gone out-of-sync, and this causes JIRA to generate incorrect URL without the 'workflowMode' parameter.

Resolution

Clearing out the compiled JSP's will resolve this issue.

  1. Shutdown JIRA.

  2. Remove the contents of <jira-install-dir>/work directory

  3. Restart JIRA.

This will force Tomcat to recompile JIRA JSP files.

Updated on April 8, 2025

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