affaan-m/ECC · warning · Error

--title is required.

Error message

--title is required.

What it means

runWriteCommand (the handler for both save and handoff) calls requireNoPositionals then immediately requires options.title; if it is falsy (undefined/empty), it throws `--title is required.` Every saved memory needs a human-readable title for search/listing, so the command refuses to persist an untitled memory. handoff has additional requirements (--from, at least one --target) checked immediately after.

Source

Thrown at scripts/memory.js:414

function assertMutationAllowed(command) {
  if (process.env.ECC_DRY_RUN === '1') {
    throw new Error(
      `memory ${command} is disabled in dry-run mode; no files were written.`
    );
  }
}

function runInitCommand({ command, options, positionals, roots }) {
  requireNoPositionals(positionals, command);
  return printInit(
    initializeVault({ roots, scopes: options.scopes || undefined }),
    options.json
  );
}

function runWriteCommand({ command, options, positionals, roots }) {
  requireNoPositionals(positionals, command);
  if (!options.title) throw new Error('--title is required.');
  if (command === 'handoff' && !options.from) {
    throw new Error('--from is required for handoffs.');
  }
  if (command === 'handoff' && (!options.targets || options.targets.length === 0)) {
    throw new Error('At least one --target is required for handoffs.');
  }
  return printWrite(
    saveMemory(saveInput(options, command === 'handoff' ? 'handoff' : null), { roots }),
    options.json
  );
}

function runSearchCommand({ options, positionals, roots }) {
  const query = positionals.join(' ');
  return printSearch(query, searchMemories(query, {
    roots,
    scopes: options.scopes,
    kinds: options.kinds,

View on GitHub (pinned to 01e15490f0)

Solutions

1. Always pass a non-empty `--title <text>` for save and handoff.
2. Default it in wrappers only when non-empty: `--title "${TITLE:?title required}"`.
3. Keep titles under MAX_TITLE_CHARS (200 chars) to avoid a downstream validation error.
4. For handoffs also pass `--from <harness>` and at least one `--target <harness>`.

Example fix

# before
ecc memory save --body-file notes.md

# after
ecc memory save --title "Release 2025-08 handoff" --body-file notes.md

function assertTitle(options) {
  if (!options.title || typeof options.title !== 'string' || options.title.trim() === '') {
    throw new Error('--title is required.');
  }
  if (options.title.length > 200) throw new Error('--title must be at most 200 characters.');
}

/** @returns {t is string} */
function isNonEmptyTitle(t) { return typeof t === 'string' && t.trim().length > 0 && t.length <= 200; }

try { runWriteCommand(parsed); }
catch (err) { if (/--title is required\./.test(err.message)) { usage(2); } else throw err; }

When it happens

Trigger: Running `ecc memory save --body-file notes.md` with no --title. Passing `--title ''` (empty string is falsy). A wrapper that builds args conditionally and omitted --title on a branch.

Common situations: Assuming the body filename or first line will be used as the title (it will not). Forgetting the flag in a quick save. A scripted save where TITLE was empty.

Related errors

• memory body must contain non-whitespace context.
• target harnesses must contain at least one harness or "all".
• Memory document ${sourcePath} is missing fields: ${missing.j
• Choose exactly one memory body source: --stdin or --body-fil
• ${label} must be a positive integer

AI-assisted analysis of affaan-m/ECC@01e15490f0 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/dd6c27cb5b216b9b. Report an issue: GitHub.