src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/alerts/AlertsRuntime.java

@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ public class AlertsRuntime
    public <R> R asSystem(SystemWork<R> work) throws QException
    {
       Object[] result = new Object[1];
-      QContext.withTemporaryContext(new CapturedContext(qInstance, AlertsSecurity.systemSession()), () ->
+      QContext.withTemporaryContext(new CapturedContext(qInstance, AlertsSecurity.systemSession(qInstance)), () ->
       {
          result[0] = work.run();
       });

src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/alerts/AlertsSecurity.java

@@ -278,7 +278,19 @@ public final class AlertsSecurity
     *******************************************************************************/
    public static QSystemUserSession systemSession()
    {
-      QSystemUserSession session = new QSystemUserSession();
+      return (systemSession(QContext.getQInstance()));
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** A system-user session for this instance, holding the alerts all-access
+    ** keys.  Background threads (the alerts sink, schedulers) have no QContext
+    ** yet, so they must pass the instance in.
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public static QSystemUserSession systemSession(QInstance qInstance)
+   {
+      QSystemUserSession session = new QSystemUserSession(qInstance);
       session.withSecurityKeyValue(KEY_USER_ALL_ACCESS, true);
       session.withSecurityKeyValue(KEY_PERMISSION_ALL, true);
       session.withSecurityKeyValue(KEY_READABLE_TABLE_ALL, true);

src/test/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/alerts/AlertsSystemSessionTest.java

@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2026 Kingsrook, LLC
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package com.kingsrook.qbits.alerts;
+
+
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.context.QContext;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.logging.QCollectingLogger;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.logging.QLogger;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.session.QSystemUserSession;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+
+
+/*******************************************************************************
+ ** Background threads (the alerts sink, schedulers) run engine work through
+ ** asSystem with no QContext of their own; the system session must be built
+ ** from the runtime instance, not from the (empty) context.
+ *******************************************************************************/
+class AlertsSystemSessionTest extends BaseAlertsTest
+{
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   @Test
+   void asSystemWithoutContextUsesTheRuntimeInstance() throws Exception
+   {
+      QContext.clear();
+      QCollectingLogger collectingLogger = QLogger.activateCollectingLoggerForClass(QSystemUserSession.class);
+      try
+      {
+         Boolean systemUser = runtime.asSystem(() -> QContext.getQInstance() != null && AlertsSecurity.isSystemUser());
+         assertThat(systemUser).isTrue();
+         assertThat(collectingLogger.getCollectedMessages())
+            .noneMatch(m -> m.getMessage().contains("QInstance was not supplied"));
+      }
+      finally
+      {
+         QLogger.deactivateCollectingLoggerForClass(QSystemUserSession.class);
+      }
+   }
+}