flowable · filiphr · Sep 22, 2025
diff --git a/distro/src/readme.html b/distro/src/readme.html
@@ -40,6 +40,26 @@ <h3>Release Notes - Flowable - 8.0.0</h3>
         Date properties e.g., Process Instance start time will be returned as an ISO 8601 in the UTC timezone.
         E.g., if the start time was returned as <code>2025-09-24T09:58:12.609+02:00</code> now it is returned as <code>2025-09-24T07:58:12.609Z</code>.
     </li>
+    <li>
+        Remove Joda Time support.
+        If Joda Time variables were being used, then the Joda LocalDate variable is now an instance of java.time.LocalDate
+        and the Joda DateTime variable is now an instance of java.time.Instant.
+        If variables should keep being read as Joda Time (e.g., for custom scripts etc.), then with Spring Boot the property <code>flowable.joda-time-variable-support</code>
+        can be set to <code>WRITE</code>.
+        The available values for <code>flowable.joda-time-variable-support</code> are:
+        <ul>
+            <li><code>DISABLE</code> - Completely disables Joda Time. If you have Joda Time variables in the database then reading those variables will fail.
+            </li>
+            <li><code>READ_AS_JAVA_TIME</code> - Reads Joda Time variables from the database as Java LocalDate and DateTime. This is the default configuration.
+            </li>
+            <li><code>WRITE</code> - Reads and Writes Joda Time variables. This is the same as prior to Flowable 8. The joda-time dependency has to be available
+                on the classpath.
+            </li>
+        </ul>
+        Keep in mind that this only works for variables, Flowable itself no longer supports Joda Time, i.e., due dates, timers, etc. no longer support Joda Time
+        values.
+    </li>
+
 </ul>
 <h3>Release Notes - Flowable - 7.2.0</h3>
 

diff --git a/docs/docusaurus/docs/cmmn/ch06-cmmn.md b/docs/docusaurus/docs/cmmn/ch06-cmmn.md
@@ -929,7 +929,7 @@ Properties:
 
 -   **Timer expression**: an expression that defines when the timer should occur. The following options are possible:
 
-    -   An expression resolving to a java.util.Date or org.joda.time.DateTime instance (for example, \_${someBean.calculateNextDate(someCaseInstanceVariable)})
+    -   An expression resolving to a java.util.Date, java.time.Instant, java.time.LocalDate or java.time.LocalDateTime instance (for example, \_${someBean.calculateNextDate(someCaseInstanceVariable)})
 
     -   An ISO8601 date
 

diff --git a/...e-app-engine-rest/src/test/java/org/flowable/app/rest/service/BaseSpringRestTestCase.java b/...e-app-engine-rest/src/test/java/org/flowable/app/rest/service/BaseSpringRestTestCase.java
@@ -13,21 +13,20 @@
 package org.flowable.app.rest.service;
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
-import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.fail;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.UncheckedIOException;
 import java.net.URLEncoder;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.text.DateFormat;
 import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
+import java.time.Instant;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Date;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.LinkedList;
 import java.util.List;
-import java.util.TimeZone;
 
 import org.apache.commons.io.IOUtils;
 import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
@@ -50,8 +49,6 @@
 import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.test.EnsureCleanDb;
 import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.test.LoggingExtension;
 import org.flowable.common.rest.util.RestUrlBuilder;
-import org.joda.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;
-import org.joda.time.format.ISODateTimeFormat;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.ExtendWith;
@@ -271,19 +268,11 @@ protected void assertErrorResult(String url, ObjectNode body, int statusCode) th
      * Extract a date from the given string. Assertion fails when invalid date has been provided.
      */
     protected Date getDateFromISOString(String isoString) {
-        DateTimeFormatter dateFormat = ISODateTimeFormat.dateTime();
-        try {
-            return dateFormat.parseDateTime(isoString).toDate();
-        } catch (IllegalArgumentException iae) {
-            fail("Illegal date provided: " + isoString);
-            return null;
-        }
+        return Date.from(Instant.parse(isoString));
     }
 
     protected String getISODateString(Date time) {
-        TimeZone tz = TimeZone.getTimeZone("UTC");
-        longDateFormat.setTimeZone(tz);
-        return longDateFormat.format(time);
+        return time.toInstant().toString();
     }
 
     protected String buildUrl(String[] fragments, Object... arguments) {

diff --git a/...les/flowable-app-engine/src/main/java/org/flowable/app/engine/AppEngineConfiguration.java b/...les/flowable-app-engine/src/main/java/org/flowable/app/engine/AppEngineConfiguration.java
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@
 import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.el.ExpressionManager;
 import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.interceptor.CommandInterceptor;
 import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.interceptor.EngineConfigurationConstants;
+import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.joda.JodaDeprecationLogger;
 import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.persistence.deploy.DefaultDeploymentCache;
 import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.persistence.deploy.DeploymentCache;
 import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.persistence.entity.TableDataManager;
@@ -80,6 +81,7 @@
 import org.flowable.variable.api.types.VariableType;
 import org.flowable.variable.api.types.VariableTypes;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.VariableServiceConfiguration;
+import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.JodaTimeVariableSupport;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.db.IbatisVariableTypeHandler;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.BigDecimalType;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.BigIntegerType;
@@ -91,8 +93,6 @@
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.EmptyCollectionType;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.InstantType;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.IntegerType;
-import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.JodaDateTimeType;
-import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.JodaDateType;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.JsonType;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.LocalDateTimeType;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.LocalDateType;
@@ -156,6 +156,8 @@ public class AppEngineConfiguration extends AbstractBuildableEngineConfiguration
      */
     protected boolean jsonVariableTypeTrackObjects = true;
 
+    protected JodaTimeVariableSupport jodaTimeVariableSupport = JodaTimeVariableSupport.READ_AS_JAVA_TIME;
+
 
     protected BusinessCalendarManager businessCalendarManager;
 
@@ -402,8 +404,7 @@ public void initVariableTypes() {
             variableTypes.addType(new InstantType());
             variableTypes.addType(new LocalDateType());
             variableTypes.addType(new LocalDateTimeType());
-            variableTypes.addType(new JodaDateType());
-            variableTypes.addType(new JodaDateTimeType());
+            jodaTimeVariableSupport.registerJodaTypes(variableTypes);
             variableTypes.addType(new DoubleType());
             variableTypes.addType(new BigDecimalType());
             variableTypes.addType(new BigIntegerType());
@@ -740,6 +741,19 @@ public AppEngineConfiguration setJsonVariableTypeTrackObjects(boolean jsonVariab
         return this;
     }
 
+    public JodaTimeVariableSupport getJodaTimeVariableSupport() {
+        return jodaTimeVariableSupport;
+    }
+
+    public AppEngineConfiguration setJodaTimeVariableSupport(JodaTimeVariableSupport jodaTimeVariableSupport) {
+        //noinspection deprecation
+        if (JodaTimeVariableSupport.WRITE == jodaTimeVariableSupport) {
+            JodaDeprecationLogger.LOGGER.warn("Using deprecated joda time write support for the app engine configuration");
+        }
+        this.jodaTimeVariableSupport = jodaTimeVariableSupport;
+        return this;
+    }
+
     public boolean isDisableIdmEngine() {
         return disableIdmEngine;
     }

diff --git a/modules/flowable-batch-service/pom.xml b/modules/flowable-batch-service/pom.xml
@@ -38,10 +38,6 @@
 			<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
 			<artifactId>spring-beans</artifactId>
 		</dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>joda-time</groupId>
-            <artifactId>joda-time</artifactId>
-        </dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
 			<artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>

diff --git a/modules/flowable-bpmn-converter/pom.xml b/modules/flowable-bpmn-converter/pom.xml
@@ -53,10 +53,6 @@
       <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
       <artifactId>commons-lang3</artifactId>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>joda-time</groupId>
-      <artifactId>joda-time</artifactId>
-    </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
       <artifactId>slf4j-reload4j</artifactId>

diff --git a/.../flowable-cmmn-engine/src/main/java/org/flowable/cmmn/engine/CmmnEngineConfiguration.java b/.../flowable-cmmn-engine/src/main/java/org/flowable/cmmn/engine/CmmnEngineConfiguration.java
@@ -255,6 +255,7 @@
 import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.interceptor.CommandInterceptor;
 import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.interceptor.EngineConfigurationConstants;
 import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.javax.el.ELResolver;
+import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.joda.JodaDeprecationLogger;
 import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.persistence.deploy.DefaultDeploymentCache;
 import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.persistence.deploy.DeploymentCache;
 import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.persistence.entity.TableDataManager;
@@ -304,6 +305,7 @@
 import org.flowable.variable.api.types.VariableTypes;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.VariableServiceConfiguration;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.history.InternalHistoryVariableManager;
+import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.JodaTimeVariableSupport;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.db.IbatisVariableTypeHandler;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.BigDecimalType;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.BigIntegerType;
@@ -315,8 +317,6 @@
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.EmptyCollectionType;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.InstantType;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.IntegerType;
-import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.JodaDateTimeType;
-import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.JodaDateType;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.JsonType;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.LocalDateTimeType;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.LocalDateType;
@@ -514,6 +514,8 @@ public class CmmnEngineConfiguration extends AbstractBuildableEngineConfiguratio
      */
     protected boolean jsonVariableTypeTrackObjects = true;
 
+    protected JodaTimeVariableSupport jodaTimeVariableSupport = JodaTimeVariableSupport.READ_AS_JAVA_TIME;
+
     protected List<CaseInstanceMigrationCallback> caseInstanceMigrationCallbacks;
 
     // Set Http Client config defaults
@@ -1408,8 +1410,7 @@ public void initVariableTypes() {
             variableTypes.addType(new InstantType());
             variableTypes.addType(new LocalDateType());
             variableTypes.addType(new LocalDateTimeType());
-            variableTypes.addType(new JodaDateType());
-            variableTypes.addType(new JodaDateTimeType());
+            jodaTimeVariableSupport.registerJodaTypes(variableTypes);
             variableTypes.addType(new DoubleType());
             variableTypes.addType(new BigDecimalType());
             variableTypes.addType(new BigIntegerType());
@@ -2967,6 +2968,19 @@ public CmmnEngineConfiguration setJsonVariableTypeTrackObjects(boolean jsonVaria
         return this;
     }
 
+    public JodaTimeVariableSupport getJodaTimeVariableSupport() {
+        return jodaTimeVariableSupport;
+    }
+
+    public CmmnEngineConfiguration setJodaTimeVariableSupport(JodaTimeVariableSupport jodaTimeVariableSupport) {
+        //noinspection deprecation
+        if (JodaTimeVariableSupport.WRITE == jodaTimeVariableSupport) {
+            JodaDeprecationLogger.LOGGER.warn("Using deprecated joda time write support for the CMMN engine configuration");
+        }
+        this.jodaTimeVariableSupport = jodaTimeVariableSupport;
+        return this;
+    }
+
     public CaseDiagramGenerator getCaseDiagramGenerator() {
         return caseDiagramGenerator;
     }

diff --git a/...java/org/flowable/cmmn/engine/impl/behavior/impl/TimerEventListenerActivityBehaviour.java b/...java/org/flowable/cmmn/engine/impl/behavior/impl/TimerEventListenerActivityBehaviour.java
@@ -40,14 +40,12 @@
 import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.calendar.DueDateBusinessCalendar;
 import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.el.ExpressionManager;
 import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.interceptor.CommandContext;
-import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.joda.JodaDeprecationLogger;
 import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.runtime.Clock;
 import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.util.DateUtil;
 import org.flowable.job.service.JobServiceConfiguration;
 import org.flowable.job.service.impl.persistence.entity.JobEntity;
 import org.flowable.job.service.impl.persistence.entity.TimerJobEntity;
 import org.flowable.job.service.impl.persistence.entity.TimerJobEntityManager;
-import org.joda.time.DateTime;
 
 /**
  * {@link CmmnActivityBehavior} implementation for the CMMN Timer Event Listener.
@@ -101,12 +99,6 @@ protected void handleCreateTransition(CommandContext commandContext, PlanItemIns
             if (timerValue instanceof Date) {
                 timerDueDate = (Date) timerValue;
 
-            } else if (timerValue instanceof DateTime timerDateTime) {
-                JodaDeprecationLogger.LOGGER.warn(
-                        "Using Joda-Time DateTime has been deprecated and will be removed in a future version. Timer event listener expression {} in {} resolved to a Joda-Time DateTime. ",
-                        timerEventListener.getTimerExpression(), planItemInstance);
-                timerDueDate = timerDateTime.toDate();
-
             } else if (timerValue instanceof String timerString) {
 
                 BusinessCalendarManager businessCalendarManager = CommandContextUtil.getCmmnEngineConfiguration(commandContext).getBusinessCalendarManager();
@@ -146,7 +138,7 @@ protected void handleCreateTransition(CommandContext commandContext, PlanItemIns
         }
 
         if (timerDueDate == null) {
-            throw new FlowableException("Timer expression '" + timerEventListener.getTimerExpression() + "' did not resolve to java.util.Date, org.joda.time.DateTime, "
+            throw new FlowableException("Timer expression '" + timerEventListener.getTimerExpression() + "' did not resolve to java.util.Date, "
                     + "java.time.Instant, java.time.LocalDate, java.time.LocalDateTime or "
                     + "an ISO8601 date/duration/repetition string or a cron expression for " + planItemInstance);
         }

diff --git a/.../src/main/java/org/flowable/cmmn/engine/impl/delegate/JsonPlanItemVariableAggregator.java b/.../src/main/java/org/flowable/cmmn/engine/impl/delegate/JsonPlanItemVariableAggregator.java
@@ -35,8 +35,8 @@
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.DoubleType;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.InstantType;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.IntegerType;
-import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.JodaDateTimeType;
-import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.JodaDateType;
+import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.JodaDateTimeFallbackType;
+import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.JodaDateFallbackType;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.JsonType;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.LocalDateTimeType;
 import org.flowable.variable.service.impl.types.LocalDateType;
@@ -140,8 +140,8 @@ public Object aggregateSingleVariable(DelegatePlanItemInstance planItemInstance,
                         case InstantType.TYPE_NAME:
                         case LocalDateType.TYPE_NAME:
                         case LocalDateTimeType.TYPE_NAME:
-                        case JodaDateType.TYPE_NAME:
-                        case JodaDateTimeType.TYPE_NAME:
+                        case JodaDateFallbackType.TYPE_NAME:
+                        case JodaDateTimeFallbackType.TYPE_NAME:
                         case UUIDType.TYPE_NAME:
                             // For all these types it is OK to use toString as their string representation is what we want to have
                             objectNode.put(targetVarName, varInstance.getValue().toString());

diff --git a/modules/flowable-common-rest/pom.xml b/modules/flowable-common-rest/pom.xml
@@ -51,12 +51,6 @@
             <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
         </dependency>
 
-        <!-- Joda time -->
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>joda-time</groupId>
-            <artifactId>joda-time</artifactId>
-        </dependency>
-
         <!--- Commons -->
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>

diff --git a/modules/flowable-content-api/pom.xml b/modules/flowable-content-api/pom.xml
@@ -25,10 +25,6 @@
 			<groupId>org.flowable</groupId>
 			<artifactId>flowable-engine-common-api</artifactId>
 		</dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>joda-time</groupId>
-            <artifactId>joda-time</artifactId>
-        </dependency>
 	</dependencies>
 
 </project>
diff --git a/modules/flowable-dmn-api/pom.xml b/modules/flowable-dmn-api/pom.xml
@@ -29,10 +29,6 @@
 			<groupId>org.flowable</groupId>
 			<artifactId>flowable-engine-common-api</artifactId>
 		</dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>joda-time</groupId>
-            <artifactId>joda-time</artifactId>
-        </dependency>
 	</dependencies>
 
 </project>
diff --git a/.../flowable-dmn-api/src/main/java/org/flowable/dmn/api/DecisionExecutionAuditContainer.java b/.../flowable-dmn-api/src/main/java/org/flowable/dmn/api/DecisionExecutionAuditContainer.java
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 package org.flowable.dmn.api;
 
 import java.time.Instant;
+import java.time.LocalDate;
 import java.time.LocalDateTime;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Date;
@@ -22,8 +23,6 @@
 
 import org.flowable.dmn.model.DecisionRule;
 import org.flowable.dmn.model.HitPolicy;
-import org.joda.time.DateTime;
-import org.joda.time.LocalDate;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonInclude;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonInclude.Include;
@@ -258,8 +257,7 @@ protected static boolean isBoolean(Object obj) {
     }
 
     protected static boolean isDate(Object obj) {
-        return (obj instanceof Date || obj instanceof DateTime || obj instanceof LocalDate || obj instanceof java.time.LocalDate || obj instanceof LocalDateTime
-                || obj instanceof Instant);
+        return (obj instanceof Date || obj instanceof LocalDate || obj instanceof LocalDateTime || obj instanceof Instant);
     }
 
     protected static boolean isNumber(Object obj) {

diff --git a/modules/flowable-dmn-engine/pom.xml b/modules/flowable-dmn-engine/pom.xml
@@ -79,10 +79,6 @@
             <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
             <artifactId>spring-beans</artifactId>
         </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>joda-time</groupId>
-            <artifactId>joda-time</artifactId>
-        </dependency>
         <dependency>
         	<groupId>com.fasterxml.uuid</groupId>
         	<artifactId>java-uuid-generator</artifactId>