Business Event Field Reference

Enterprise Edition only

This page documents the payload fields of Business Events (Enterprise Edition).

Every business event is delivered as the payload string of the Event Envelope. Once parsed as JSON, its fields depend on which entity the event describes — but every payload shares a common set of base fields, described first below.

Field names below match the Java class fields exactly, since the payload is serialized with Gson, which serializes declared fields rather than getters. Types are the underlying Java types; in JSON, Date/Instant fields are rendered according to the format yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSXXX, and absent/inapplicable fields are typically omitted or null rather than present with an empty value.

Common Fields

Every business event payload includes these fields (from the base BusinessEvent class):

Field	Type	Description
`id`	String	Identifier of the event's subject (e.g. the process instance id, task id, incident id) — populated for most, but not all, event types; see per-entity notes below.
`rootProcessInstanceId`	String	The root process instance in which the event occurred (top of the call-activity chain).
`processInstanceId`	String	The process instance in which the event occurred.
`executionId`	String	Id of the execution in which the event occurred.
`processDefinitionId`	String	Id of the process definition (deployment-specific).
`processDefinitionKey`	String	Key of the process definition (stable across versions).
`processDefinitionName`	String	Human-readable name of the process definition.
`processDefinitionVersion`	Integer	Version of the process definition.
`eventType`	String	The short event name, e.g. `start`, `create`, `update` — the last segment of `businessEventType`.
`businessEventType`	String	The fully-qualified type, `<prefix>:<entity>:<event>` (e.g. `bpms:task-instance:complete`) — matches `metadata.type` in the envelope.
`sequenceCounter`	long	Execution/variable sequence counter, useful for ordering events that were dispatched out of strict chronological order.

Several entities (process instance, activity instance’s sibling detail entities, task instance, variable instance, form property, script violation) extend a further intermediate base, BusinessDetailEventEntity, adding:

Field	Type	Description
`activityInstanceId`	String	Activity instance associated with the change (meaning varies slightly per entity — see notes below).
`taskId`	String	Task id, when the event is scoped to a task; otherwise `null`.
`timestamp`	Date	When the event occurred.
`tenantId`	String	Tenant id, in multi-tenant deployments.
`userOperationId`	String	Id correlating this change back to the [user operation log](#user-operation-log) entry that caused it, if any (e.g. a task update triggered by an explicit API call vs. an internal engine action).

Entities that extend BusinessEvent directly (activity instance, identity link, incident, job, batch, external task, DMN decision, user operation log) do not carry the BusinessDetailEventEntity fields above — only the Common Fields plus their own, listed per entity below.

Process Instance

Types: start, end, migrate (entity process-instance); update (entity process-instance-update) Java: BusinessProcessInstanceEventEntity (extends BusinessDetailEventEntity)

Field	Type	Description
`id`	String	The process instance id (explicitly set to this on all process-instance events).
`businessKey`	String	The process instance's business key, if set.
`startUserId`	String	Authenticated user id that started the instance, if any.
`superProcessInstanceId`	String	Parent process instance id, if this instance was started via a call activity.
`startActivityId`	String	BPMN activity id where the instance started.
`endActivityId`	String	BPMN activity id where the instance ended (only on `end`).
`deleteReason`	String	Reason string, populated when the instance ended via deletion/cancellation rather than normal completion.
`state`	String	One of `ACTIVE`, `SUSPENDED`, `COMPLETED`, `INTERNALLY_TERMINATED`, `EXTERNALLY_TERMINATED` (`BusinessProcessInstanceState`).
`startTime`	Date	When the instance started.
`endTime`	Date	When the instance ended (only on `end`).
`durationInMillis`	Long	`endTime - startTime`, only populated once both are known.

Activity Instance

Types: start, update, migrate, end (entity activity-instance) Java: BusinessActivityInstanceEventEntity (extends BusinessEvent directly — no BusinessDetailEventEntity fields)

Field	Type	Description
`activityInstanceId`	String	The activity instance id (also set as the common `id` field).
`activityId`	String	BPMN element id (e.g. `ServiceTask_1`).
`activityName`	String	BPMN element name, if set in the model.
`activityType`	String	BPMN element type, e.g. `serviceTask`, `userTask`, `exclusiveGateway`.
`activityInstanceState`	int	`0` default, `1` scope complete, `2` canceled, `3` starting, `4` ending (`ActivityInstanceState`) — only meaningfully set on `end`.
`parentActivityInstanceId`	String	Enclosing activity instance (e.g. the subprocess or call activity instance).
`calledProcessInstanceId`	String	Set when this activity is a call activity that spawned a called process instance.
`tenantId`	String	Tenant id, in multi-tenant deployments.
`startTime`	Date	When the activity instance started.
`endTime`	Date	When the activity instance ended (only on `end`).
`durationInMillis`	Long	`endTime - startTime`, only on `end`.

Task Instance

Types: create, update, migrate, complete, delete (entity task-instance) Java: BusinessTaskInstanceEventEntity (extends BusinessDetailEventEntity)

Field	Type	Description
`id` / `taskId`	String	The task id.
`activityInstanceId`	String	Activity instance backing the task's user task.
`assignee`	String	Assigned user id, if any.
`owner`	String	Task owner user id, if any.
`name`	String	Task name.
`description`	String	Task description.
`dueDate`	Date	Due date, if set.
`followUpDate`	Date	Follow-up date, if set.
`priority`	int	Task priority.
`parentTaskId`	String	Parent task id, for subtasks.
`taskDefinitionKey`	String	Key of the user task in the BPMN model.
`taskState`	String	The task's current internal state string.
`startTime`	Date	When the task was created.
`endTime`	Date	When the task was completed or deleted.
`durationInMillis`	Long	`endTime - startTime`, on `complete`/`delete`.
`deleteReason`	String	Set on `complete` (e.g. normal completion reason) and `delete`.

Variable Instance

Types: created, updated, migrate, deleted (entity variable-instance) Java: BusinessVariableUpdateEventEntity (extends BusinessDetailEventEntity)

Field	Type	Description
`variableName`	String	Name of the variable.
`variableInstanceId`	String	Id of the variable instance row.
`revision`	int	Optimistic-locking revision of the variable instance at the time of the event.
`scopeActivityInstanceId`	String	Activity instance that scopes the variable (may differ from `activityInstanceId`, which is where it was set).
`activityInstanceId`	String	Activity instance in which the variable was set (inherited field; here it identifies the source of the change).
`taskId`	String	Task id, when the variable is task-scoped.
`serializerName`	String	Name of the variable type's serializer (e.g. `string`, `json`, `object`).
`longValue`	Long	Raw persisted `LONG_` column value, mirroring `ACT_RU_VARIABLE` — populated depending on the variable's type.
`doubleValue`	Double	Raw persisted `DOUBLE_` column value.
`textValue`	String	Raw persisted `TEXT_` column value (e.g. String variables, or the primary text representation for complex types).
`textValue2`	String	Raw persisted `TEXT2_` column value (secondary text column, used by some serializers, e.g. for a Java class name alongside serialized content).
`byteValue`	byte[]	Inline raw bytes, for small binary values.
`byteArrayId`	String	Id of the associated blob row, when the value is stored out-of-line as a byte array.
`isInitial`	Boolean	`true` when this is the first value ever set for the variable, typically during process instance start.

Reading the actual variable value

The variable’s value is spread across longValue/doubleValue/textValue/textValue2/byteValue/byteArrayId depending on serializerName — the same low-level representation used internally by ACT_RU_VARIABLE and ACT_GE_BYTEARRAY. There is no single pre-decoded “value” field; consumers that need the typed value should decode it the same way the corresponding variable serializer does, or query the variable through the regular Java/REST API instead of relying solely on the event payload for complex types.

Identity Link

Types: add-identity-link (entity identity-link-add), delete-identity-link (entity identity-link-delete) Java: BusinessIdentityLinkEventEntity (extends BusinessEvent directly)

Field	Type	Description
`time`	Date	When the identity link change occurred.
`type`	String	Identity link type, e.g. `candidate`, `assignee`, `owner`.
`userId`	String	User id the link refers to, if any.
`groupId`	String	Group id the link refers to, if any.
`taskId`	String	Task id, if the link is on a task; `null` when the link is on a process definition instead.
`operationType`	String	Literal `"add"` or `"delete"`.
`assignerId`	String	Authenticated user id who performed the operation, if any.
`tenantId`	String	Tenant id, in multi-tenant deployments.

Incident

Types: create, migrate, resolve, update, delete (entity incident) Java: BusinessIncidentEventEntity (extends BusinessEvent directly)

Field	Type	Description
`id`	String	The incident id.
`createTime`	Date	When the incident was created.
`endTime`	Date	When the incident was resolved or deleted (only on those events).
`incidentType`	String	Incident type, e.g. `failedJob`, `failedExternalTask`.
`activityId`	String	BPMN activity id where the incident occurred.
`failedActivityId`	String	BPMN activity id where the underlying failure originated (may differ from `activityId` for incidents that propagate).
`causeIncidentId`	String	Id of the incident that directly caused this one, for incident chains.
`rootCauseIncidentId`	String	Id of the root incident at the top of the causal chain.
`configuration`	String	Incident-type-specific configuration string (e.g. the failed job's id for a `failedJob` incident).
`incidentMessage`	String	Human-readable incident message, typically the underlying exception message.
`incidentState`	int	`0` open, `1` resolved, `2` deleted (`IncidentState`).
`jobDefinitionId`	String	Job definition id, for job-related incidents.
`historyConfiguration`	String	Historic configuration string, retained for incidents surfaced via history.
`annotation`	String	Free-text annotation attached to the incident, if any (e.g. via Cockpit).
`tenantId`	String	Tenant id, in multi-tenant deployments.

Job

Types: create, fail, success, delete (entity job) Java: JobLogBusinessEvent (extends BusinessEvent directly)

Field	Type	Description
`jobId`	String	The job id.
`timestamp`	Date	When the event occurred.
`jobDueDate`	Date	The job's due date at the time of the event.
`jobRetries`	int	Remaining retries at the time of the event.
`jobPriority`	long	Job priority.
`jobExceptionMessage`	String	Failure exception message, set on `fail`.
`exceptionStacktrace`	String	Full failure stack trace, set on `fail`.
`jobDefinitionId`	String	Job definition id, if any.
`jobDefinitionType`	String	Job handler type; falls back to the job handler's own type when there is no job definition (e.g. async-continuation/signal jobs).
`jobDefinitionConfiguration`	String	Job definition configuration string.
`activityId`	String	BPMN activity id associated with the job.
`failedActivityId`	String	BPMN activity id where the job failure originated.
`deploymentId`	String	Deployment id the job belongs to.
`state`	int	`0` created, `1` failed, `2` successful, `3` deleted (`JobState`).
`tenantId`	String	Tenant id, in multi-tenant deployments.
`hostname`	String	Hostname of the engine node that processed the job.
`batchId`	String	Id of the batch the job belongs to, if it was created as part of a batch operation.

Batch

Types: start, update, end (entity batch) Java: BatchBusinessEvent (extends BusinessEvent directly)

Field	Type	Description
`id`	String	The batch id.
`type`	String	Batch type, e.g. `instance-migration`.
`totalJobs`	int	Total number of execution jobs the batch will create.
`batchJobsPerSeed`	int	Number of execution jobs created per run of the seed job.
`invocationsPerBatchJob`	int	Number of entities processed per execution job.
`seedJobDefinitionId`	String	Id of the seed job definition.
`monitorJobDefinitionId`	String	Id of the monitor job definition.
`batchJobDefinitionId`	String	Id of the execution job definition.
`tenantId`	String	Tenant id, in multi-tenant deployments.
`createUserId`	String	User id that created the batch — only set on `start`.
`startTime`	Date	When the batch started — only on `start`.
`endTime`	Date	When the batch ended — only on `end`.
`executionStartTime`	Date	Timestamp of the reported progress — only on `update`.

External Task

Types: create, fail, success, delete (entity external-task) Java: ExternalTaskBusinessEvent (extends BusinessEvent directly)

Field	Type	Description
`externalTaskId`	String	The external task id.
`timestamp`	Date	Creation time on `create`; current time on the other events.
`topicName`	String	External task topic name.
`workerId`	String	Id of the worker that fetched/locked the task, if any.
`priority`	long	Task priority.
`retries`	Integer	Remaining retries at the time of the event.
`errorMessage`	String	Failure error message, set on `fail`.
`errorDetails`	String	Full failure details/stack trace, set on `fail`.
`activityId`	String	BPMN external task activity id.
`activityInstanceId`	String	Activity instance backing the external task.
`tenantId`	String	Tenant id, in multi-tenant deployments.
`state`	int	`0` created, `1` failed, `2` successful, `3` deleted (`ExternalTaskState`).

DMN Decision Evaluation

Type: evaluate (entity decision) Java: DmnDecisionEvaluationBusinessEvent (extends BusinessEvent directly)

Bundles the decision that was directly evaluated together with any required (sub-)decisions from the same decision requirements diagram into a single event.

Field	Type	Description
`rootDecisionInstance`	DmnDecisionInstanceEvaluation	The directly-evaluated decision (see structure below).
`requiredDecisionInstances`	List<DmnDecisionInstanceEvaluation>	Any required (sub-)decisions evaluated as part of the same decision requirements diagram. Empty if none.
`tenantId`	String	Tenant id, in multi-tenant deployments.
`userId`	String	Authenticated user id — only populated when the decision was evaluated ad hoc (no process-execution context), e.g. via the Decision REST API directly.
`activityId`	String	The business rule task id, when the decision was evaluated in-process.
`activityInstanceId`	String	Activity instance of the business rule task, when evaluated in-process.

DmnDecisionInstanceEvaluation:

Field	Type	Description
`decisionDefinitionId`	String	Id of the decision definition.
`decisionDefinitionKey`	String	Key of the decision definition.
`decisionDefinitionName`	String	Name of the decision definition.
`decisionRequirementsDefinitionId`	String	Id of the decision requirements graph (DRG) definition, if the decision is part of one.
`decisionRequirementsDefinitionKey`	String	Key of the DRG definition.
`evaluationTime`	Date	When this specific decision was evaluated.
`inputs`	List<DmnDecisionInputEvaluation>	The input clause values used for this evaluation.
`outputs`	List<DmnDecisionOutputEvaluation>	The output clause values produced by this evaluation.

DmnDecisionInputEvaluation:

Field	Type	Description
`clauseId`	String	Id of the input clause in the DMN table.
`clauseName`	String	Name of the input clause.
`typeName`	String	FEEL/DMN type name of the value, e.g. `string`, `long`.
`value`	Object	The actual input value.

DmnDecisionOutputEvaluation:

Field	Type	Description
`clauseId`	String	Id of the output clause in the DMN table.
`clauseName`	String	Name of the output clause.
`ruleId`	String	Id of the matched rule (row) that produced this output.
`ruleOrder`	Integer	Order/index of the matched rule.
`variableName`	String	Name of the output variable.
`typeName`	String	FEEL/DMN type name of the value.
`value`	Object	The actual output value.

Form Property

Type: form-property-update (entity form-property) Java: BusinessFormPropertyEventEntity (extends BusinessDetailEventEntity)

Field	Type	Description
`propertyId`	String	The form property's key.
`propertyValue`	String	The submitted value, as a string.
`activityInstanceId`	String	The start activity instance if this is a start form, otherwise the current task's activity instance.
`taskId`	String	The task id, for task forms; `null` for start forms.
`userOperationId`	String	Correlates back to the [user operation log](#user-operation-log) entry for the same submission, if any.
`tenantId`	String	Tenant id, in multi-tenant deployments.

User Operation Log

Type: create (entity user-operation-log) Java: UserOperationLogBusinessEvent (extends BusinessEvent directly)

One event is published per changed property — an operation that changes three properties (e.g. a synchronous message correlation, see Security — user operation log settings) produces three separate user-operation-log:create events, all sharing the same operationId.

Field	Type	Description
`operationId`	String	Correlates all property-change events that belong to the same logical user operation.
`operationType`	String	Operation type, e.g. `Suspend`, `Assign`, `Complete`.
`entityType`	String	Type of entity the operation acted on, e.g. `Task`, `ProcessInstance`.
`property`	String	Name of the specific property that changed.
`orgValue`	String	Previous value, stringified.
`newValue`	String	New value, stringified.
`userId`	String	Authenticated user id that performed the operation.
`taskId`	String	Correlation id, when the operation targeted a task.
`jobId`	String	Correlation id, when the operation targeted a job.
`jobDefinitionId`	String	Correlation id, when the operation targeted a job definition.
`deploymentId`	String	Correlation id, when the operation targeted a deployment.
`batchId`	String	Correlation id, when the operation targeted a batch.
`externalTaskId`	String	Correlation id, when the operation targeted an external task.
`category`	String	User operation log category, e.g. `TaskWorker`, `Admin`, `Operator`.
`annotation`	String	Free-text annotation attached to the operation, if any.
`tenantId`	String	Tenant id, in multi-tenant deployments.
`timestamp`	Date	When the operation occurred.

Script Violation

Type: create (entity script-violation) Java: BusinessScriptViolationEventEntity (extends BusinessDetailEventEntity)

Published for every Script Guard violation recorded in AUDIT or ENFORCE mode. processInstanceId/rootProcessInstanceId (common fields) are null for deployment-time violations detected during BPMN parsing, and populated for runtime violations detected during script task execution.

Field	Type	Description
`activityId`	String	Id of the BPMN activity where the violation was detected, e.g. `ServiceTask_1`.
`language`	String	Script language, e.g. `javascript`, `groovy`.
`sourceType`	String	Script source type (see `ScriptSourceType`) — e.g. inline vs. external resource.
`origin`	String	Script origin (see `ScriptOrigin`) — e.g. script task, execution listener, I/O mapping.
`ruleCode`	String	Rule code that triggered the violation, e.g. `SCRIPT_SECURITY_SYSTEM_GETENV`.
`reason`	String	Human-readable violation reason.