With this CND file: <local = 'http://local.domain/local'> [local:A] mixin - local:title (STRING) xx and this code to load it. No errors are given but no nodes are loaded either. JcrEngine engine = null; try { InputStream myConfigStream = TestLoadCND.class.getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream("modeshape-config.xml"); JcrConfiguration config = new JcrConfiguration().loadFrom(myConfigStream); engine = config.build(); engine.start(); Repository repository = engine.getRepository("CPF repository"); Session session = repository.login(); Workspace workspace = session.getWorkspace(); NodeTypeManager nodeTypeManager = (NodeTypeManager) workspace.getNodeTypeManager(); System.out.println("Parse the cnd file"); InputStream myCndStream = TestLoadCND.class.getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream("syntaxError.cnd"); nodeTypeManager.registerNodeTypes(myCndStream, false); System.out.println("File parsed"); System.out.println("List the new nodes"); NodeTypeIterator it = nodeTypeManager.getAllNodeTypes(); while(it.hasNext()) { Object o = it.next(); NodeType nt = (NodeType) o; printNodeDetails(nt, false); } } catch(Throwable e) { System.out.println("Error parsing cnd: " + e.getMessage()); e.printStackTrace(); }