Skip to content

SLF4J_SIGN_ONLY_FORMAT

Summary

  • Rule ID: SLF4J_SIGN_ONLY_FORMAT
  • Name: SLF4J placeholder-only format
  • Problem: Format strings containing only {} placeholders provide little diagnostic context.

What This Rule Reports

This rule reports SLF4J format strings that are placeholder-only (no descriptive text).

Java Example (reported)

LOG.info("{} {}", varOne, varTwo);

What This Rule Does Not Report

  • Format strings with descriptive text plus placeholders
  • Message-only overloads with meaningful text

Java Example (not reported)

LOG.info("user={} action={}", varOne, varTwo);

Include context text in the format string so logs are readable without external knowledge.

Message Shape

Findings state that the SLF4J format string should include text.