answers[${entry.index}].answer other value must match select

Error message

answers[${entry.index}].answer other value must match selected_values[0] and other_text

What it means

For other-kind answers, consistency is enforced: selected_values must have exactly one element equal to the trimmed other_text, and answer.value must equal it too. Any divergence throws this error.

Source

Thrown at src/question/state.ts:374

function validateAnswerAgainstQuestion(question: NormalizedQuestionItem, entry: QuestionAnswerEntry): void {
  const { answer } = entry;
  const selectedValues = validateStringArray(answer.selected_values, `answers[${entry.index}].answer.selected_values`);
  const selectedLabels = validateStringArray(answer.selected_labels, `answers[${entry.index}].answer.selected_labels`);
  assertNoDuplicateValues(selectedValues, `answers[${entry.index}].answer.selected_values`);

  const optionValues = new Set(question.options.map((option) => option.value));
  const multi = isMultiAnswerableQuestion(question);
  const hasOtherText = typeof answer.other_text === 'string' && answer.other_text.trim().length > 0;
  const otherText = hasOtherText ? answer.other_text!.trim() : undefined;
  const outOfSchemaValues = selectedValues.filter((value) => !optionValues.has(value));

  if (answer.kind === 'other') {
    if (!question.allow_other) throw new Error(`answers[${entry.index}].answer.kind=other is not allowed for this question`);
    if (multi) throw new Error(`answers[${entry.index}].answer.kind=other is only valid for single-answerable questions`);
    if (!otherText) throw new Error(`answers[${entry.index}].answer.other_text must be a non-empty string`);
    if (selectedValues.length !== 1 || selectedValues[0] !== otherText || answer.value !== otherText) {
      throw new Error(`answers[${entry.index}].answer other value must match selected_values[0] and other_text`);
    }
    assertSelectedLabelsMatch(
      selectedLabels,
      [question.other_label],
      `answers[${entry.index}].answer.selected_labels`,
    );
    return;
  }

  if (answer.kind === 'option') {
    if (multi) throw new Error(`answers[${entry.index}].answer.kind=option is only valid for single-answerable questions`);
    if (selectedValues.length !== 1 || selectedLabels.length !== 1) {
      throw new Error(`answers[${entry.index}].answer must select exactly one option`);
    }
    const selectedValue = selectedValues[0]!;
    if (!optionValues.has(selectedValue)) {
      throw new Error(`answers[${entry.index}].answer selected value is not in the option schema: ${selectedValue}`);
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to 3ad79a8a6f)

Solutions

Set all three fields from one source: const text = input.trim(); value = text; selected_values = [text]; other_text = text
Never use a sentinel like '__other__' as the value; the free text itself is the value

Example fix

// before
answer.value = '__other__'; answer.selected_values = ['__other__']; answer.other_text = text;
// after
const t = text.trim();
answer.value = t; answer.selected_values = [t]; answer.other_text = t;

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const t = (answer.other_text ?? '').trim();
if (answer.kind === 'other' && (answer.selected_values.length !== 1 || answer.selected_values[0] !== t || answer.value !== t)) {
  answer.value = t; answer.selected_values = [t];
}

Type guard

function otherAnswerConsistent(a: QuestionAnswerEntry): boolean {
  const t = typeof a.answer.other_text === 'string' ? a.answer.other_text.trim() : '';
  return t.length > 0 && a.answer.selected_values.length === 1 && a.answer.selected_values[0] === t && a.answer.value === t;
}

Try / catch

try { await submit(p, answers); } catch (e) { if (/other value must match/.test((e as Error).message)) { syncOtherFieldsFromOtherText(answer); return submit(p, answers); } throw e; }

Prevention

Populate value, selected_values and other_text from one trimmed string
Avoid sentinel values like '__other__'

When it happens

Trigger: kind 'other' where selected_values[0] !== other_text.trim(), selected_values.length !== 1, or answer.value !== other_text — e.g. sending the matched option value while other_text holds the free text.

Common situations: Client setting value/selected_values from a hidden 'other' option value (like '__other__') while other_text holds real text; partial normalization that trims one field but not the other.

Understand the failure class

Background: Schema validation failed / invalid input schema: payload rejected because its shape doesn't match the expected schema — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of Yeachan-Heo/oh-my-codex@3ad79a8a6f (2026-08-27). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0416658d6912934d. Report an issue: GitHub.