Textualize/textual · error · OptionDoesNotExist

There is no option with an ID of {option_id!r}

Error message

There is no option with an ID of {option_id!r}

What it means

Raised by OptionList.get_option when no option with the supplied id exists. The widget looks up ids in an internal _id_to_option dict built only from Options that were given an explicit id; a KeyError is converted to OptionDoesNotExist.

Source

Thrown at src/textual/widgets/_option_list.py:444

        self.add_options([option])
        return self

    def get_option(self, option_id: str) -> Option:
        """Get the option with the given ID.

        Args:
            option_id: The ID of the option to get.

        Returns:
            The option with the ID.

        Raises:
            OptionDoesNotExist: If no option has the given ID.
        """
        try:
            return self._id_to_option[option_id]
        except KeyError:
            raise OptionDoesNotExist(
                f"There is no option with an ID of {option_id!r}"
            ) from None

    def get_option_index(self, option_id: str) -> int:
        """Get the index (offset in `self.options`) of the option with the given ID.

        Args:
            option_id: The ID of the option to get the index of.

        Returns:
            The index of the item with the given ID.

        Raises:
            OptionDoesNotExist: If no option has the given ID.
        """
        option = self.get_option(option_id)
        return self._option_to_index[option]

View on GitHub (pinned to 06dbeef4bb)

Solutions

1. Check membership first with `option_id in option_list._id_to_option` or wrap in try/except OptionDoesNotExist.
2. Verify the option was created with an explicit unique id: Option('prompt', id='my-id').
3. Re-check ids after set_options/clear_options, which invalidate previously valid ids.

Example fix

# before
option = option_list.get_option(user_choice)
# after
from textual.widgets.option_list import OptionDoesNotExist
try:
    option = option_list.get_option(user_choice)
except OptionDoesNotExist:
    option = None

from textual.widgets.option_list import OptionDoesNotExist
try:
    option = option_list.get_option(option_id)
except OptionDoesNotExist:
    ...

When it happens

Trigger: Calling get_option('missing'), get_option_index('missing'), or remove_option('missing') with an id that was never added (or was removed earlier). Also calling get_option with an option's prompt text instead of its id.

Common situations: Stale ids after the option list was rebuilt via set_options/clear_options, typos in ids, or assuming options without explicit ids still have ids (auto options have id None and are not in the map).

Related errors

• Unable to add {option!r} due to duplicate ID
• There is no option with an index of {index}
• Unable to remove; there is no option at index {index}
• Can't animate attribute {attribute!r} on {obj!r}; attribute
• Don't know how to animate {value!r}; Can only animate <int>,

AI-assisted analysis of Textualize/textual@06dbeef4bb (2026-08-27). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f272ff3fa038bee1. Report an issue: GitHub.