What causes "Task ID (id) is required" in eyaltoledano/claude-task-master?

Include the numeric or dotted task id (e.g. 5 or '5.2') in args.id

INPUT_VALIDATION_ERROR

INPUT_VALIDATION_ERROR

Error message

Task ID (id) is required

What it means

INPUT_VALIDATION_ERROR with 'Task ID (id) is required' is returned when removeDependencyDirect is called without the id parameter identifying the task whose dependency should be removed. Like the other guards in this wrapper, it returns a structured error object rather than throwing. It fires before any file access or core call.

Source

Thrown at mcp-server/src/core/direct-functions/remove-dependency.js:45

		// Check if tasksJsonPath was provided
		if (!tasksJsonPath) {
			log.error('removeDependencyDirect called without tasksJsonPath');
			return {
				success: false,
				error: {
					code: 'MISSING_ARGUMENT',
					message: 'tasksJsonPath is required'
				}
			};
		}

		// Validate required parameters
		if (!id) {
			return {
				success: false,
				error: {
					code: 'INPUT_VALIDATION_ERROR',
					message: 'Task ID (id) is required'
				}
			};
		}

		if (!dependsOn) {
			return {
				success: false,
				error: {
					code: 'INPUT_VALIDATION_ERROR',
					message: 'Dependency ID (dependsOn) is required'
				}
			};
		}

		// Use provided path
		const tasksPath = tasksJsonPath;

View on GitHub (pinned to c0c98d367c)

Solutions

Include the numeric or dotted task id (e.g. 5 or '5.2') in args.id
Check the MCP tool invocation arguments include id
Avoid id values that coerce to falsy (0, '', null); use a valid positive task ID
Confirm the task exists in tasks.json and use its actual ID

Example fix

// before
await removeDependencyDirect({ tasksJsonPath, dependsOn: 3 }, log);
// after
await removeDependencyDirect({ tasksJsonPath, id: 5, dependsOn: 3 }, log);

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if (args?.id === undefined || args?.id === null || args?.id === '') {
  throw new Error('id (task ID) is required before calling removeDependencyDirect');
}

Type guard

function hasTaskId(args) {
  return typeof args?.id === 'string' ? args.id.length > 0 : typeof args?.id === 'number' && args.id > 0;
}

Try / catch

const result = await removeDependencyDirect(args, log);
if (!result.success && result.error.message === 'Task ID (id) is required') {
  console.error('Provide args.id, e.g. 5 or "5.2"');
}

Prevention

Always include both id and dependsOn in remove_dependency tool calls
Validate tool arguments against the schema before invoking the direct function
Use positive, existing task IDs (id=0 is falsy and would trigger this guard)
Fetch the task first to confirm its ID before removing dependencies

When it happens

Trigger: Calling removeDependencyDirect(args, log) where args.id is undefined, null, or empty — tasksJsonPath and dependsOn may be present but id is missing (note: id=0 is also falsy and triggers this).

Common situations: MCP client omits the id parameter in the remove_dependency tool call; LLM tool-call arguments drop the field; a caller passes only dependsOn assuming the dependency owner is inferred.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of eyaltoledano/claude-task-master@c0c98d367c (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6bcba1baacf7196e. Report an issue: GitHub.