can1357/oh-my-pi · error · ToolError

objective is required when op=create

Error message

objective is required when op=create

What it means

GoalTool's create operation requires an `objective` string. validateCreateParams trims params.objective and throws this ToolError when it is empty, whitespace-only, or undefined. The tool refuses to create a goal without a stated objective.

Source

Thrown at packages/coding-agent/src/goals/tools/goal-tool.ts:49

export function buildGoalToolResponse(
	goal: Goal | null | undefined,
	options?: { includeCompletionReport?: boolean },
): GoalToolResponse {
	const resolvedGoal = goal ?? null;
	return {
		goal: resolvedGoal,
		remainingTokens: remainingTokens(resolvedGoal),
		completionBudgetReport:
			options?.includeCompletionReport && resolvedGoal?.status === "complete"
				? completionBudgetReport(resolvedGoal)
				: null,
	};
}

function validateCreateParams(params: GoalToolInput): { objective: string; tokenBudget?: number } {
	const objective = params.objective?.trim();
	if (!objective) {
		throw new ToolError("objective is required when op=create");
	}
	const tokenBudget = params.token_budget;
	if (tokenBudget !== undefined && (!Number.isInteger(tokenBudget) || tokenBudget <= 0)) {
		throw new ToolError("token_budget must be a positive integer when provided");
	}
	return { objective, tokenBudget };
}

export class GoalTool implements AgentTool<typeof goalSchema, GoalToolDetails> {
	readonly name = "goal";
	readonly label = "Goal";
	readonly description = prompt.render(goalDescription);
	readonly parameters = goalSchema;
	readonly strict = true;
	readonly intent = "omit" as const;
	readonly #session: ToolSession;

	constructor(session: ToolSession) {

View on GitHub (pinned to 9690622007)

Solutions

1. Pass a non-empty `objective` string in the tool input, e.g. {"op":"create","objective":"Refactor auth module"}
2. Trim-check the objective at the call site before invoking the tool
3. If building calls from a schema, ensure goalSchema marks objective required for op=create so the model is constrained

Example fix

// before
await tool.execute({ op: "create" });
// after
await tool.execute({ op: "create", objective: "Ship the v2 API" });

if (typeof input.objective !== "string" || input.objective.trim().length === 0) {
  throw new Error("objective must be a non-empty string before op=create");
}

function hasObjective(p: { objective?: string }): p is { objective: string } {
  return typeof p.objective === "string" && p.objective.trim().length > 0;
}

try {
  await goalTool.execute({ op: "create", objective });
} catch (err) {
  if (err instanceof ToolError && err.message.includes("objective is required")) {
    // prompt user/model for an objective and retry
  } else throw err;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling the `goal` tool with op="create" and omitting `objective`, passing `objective: ""` or `objective: " "` (whitespace-only), or passing a non-string that trims to nothing.

Common situations: An LLM agent emits a goal-create tool call but leaves out the objective field; programmatic tool invocations build the params object without the required field; templates copy an update/status call shape (no objective needed) and reuse it for create.

Understand the failure class

Background: Missing required parameter errors: what 'X is required' and 'the required X param is missing' mean, and how to fix them — this error's family across 27 libraries.

Related errors

• token_budget must be a positive integer when provided
• `pat` must be a non-empty pattern
• skip must be a non-negative number
• Empty report. ${reportIssueDeviceUsage()}
• Invalid report format. ${reportIssueDeviceUsage()}

AI-assisted analysis of can1357/oh-my-pi@9690622007 (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5f8762b1c9032fcf. Report an issue: GitHub.