dianping/cat · error · Error

confirm requires a callback

Error message

confirm requires a callback

What it means

Unlike alert, bootbox.confirm requires a callback (it must be a function) because the dialog's whole purpose is reporting the user's choice: the callback receives true (confirm) or false (cancel/escape). With no callable callback the result would be unusable, so it throws before rendering.

Source

Thrown at cat-home/src/main/webapp/assets/js/uncompressed/bootbox.js:341

  exports.confirm = function() {
    var options;

    options = mergeDialogOptions("confirm", ["cancel", "confirm"], ["message", "callback"], arguments);

    /**
     * overrides; undo anything the user tried to set they shouldn't have
     */
    options.buttons.cancel.callback = options.onEscape = function() {
      return options.callback(false);
    };

    options.buttons.confirm.callback = function() {
      return options.callback(true);
    };

    // confirm specific validation
    if (!$.isFunction(options.callback)) {
      throw new Error("confirm requires a callback");
    }

    return exports.dialog(options);
  };

  exports.prompt = function() {
    var options;
    var defaults;
    var dialog;
    var form;
    var input;
    var shouldShow;
    var inputOptions;

    // we have to create our form first otherwise
    // its value is undefined when gearing up our options
    // @TODO this could be solved by allowing message to
    // be a function instead...

View on GitHub (pinned to e815e74d4c)

Solutions

1. Supply a function: bootbox.confirm('Proceed?', function(result){ if (result) doIt(); }).
2. Check the callback exists when it is dynamic: if (typeof cb === 'function') bootbox.confirm(msg, cb); else bootbox.alert(msg).
3. If upgrading to bootbox 5+, note confirm may be used promise-style — but verify the bundled version first.

Example fix

// before
bootbox.confirm('Delete item?'); // nothing happens with the answer

// after
bootbox.confirm('Delete item?', function (result) {
  if (result) deleteItem();
});

if (typeof onDecide !== 'function') {
  throw new Error('caller must supply a decision handler');
}
bootbox.confirm(message, onDecide);

function isConfirmCallback(fn) {
  return typeof fn === 'function';
}

When it happens

Trigger: bootbox.confirm('Proceed?'); bootbox.confirm('Proceed?', 'handleIt'); bootbox.confirm({message: '...'}) with a missing or non-function callback property; passing a callback that a wrapper failed to forward.

Common situations: Copy-pasted an alert() call and changed only the message; refactoring removed the callback during cleanup; assuming the promise-style API of bootbox 5+ (which returns a promise and makes callback optional) while running bootbox 4.x where it is mandatory.

Related errors

• prompt requires a callback
• Please specify a message
• alert requires callback property to be a function when provi
• prompt requires a title
• Please supply an object of options

AI-assisted analysis of dianping/cat@e815e74d4c (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f5801e1a83cae09b. Report an issue: GitHub.