What causes "Source IDs are required" in eyaltoledano/claude-task-master?

Pass `sourceIds` with the task ID(s) to move, e.g. sourceIds: "5" or "1,2,3".

MISSING_SOURCE_IDS

MISSING_SOURCE_IDS

Error message

Source IDs are required

What it means

MISSING_SOURCE_IDS is a parameter validation error returned by moveTaskCrossTagDirect when the `sourceIds` argument is absent/falsy. Cross-tag task moves require at least one source task ID to know which task(s) to move. It is a structured (non-throwing) error response with success:false.

Source

Thrown at mcp-server/src/core/direct-functions/move-task-cross-tag.js:39

 * @param {boolean} args.ignoreDependencies - Break cross-tag dependencies during move
 * @param {string} args.file - Alternative path to the tasks.json file
 * @param {string} args.projectRoot - Project root directory
 * @param {Object} log - Logger object
 * @returns {Promise<{success: boolean, data?: Object, error?: Object}>}
 */
export async function moveTaskCrossTagDirect(args, log, context = {}) {
	const { session } = context;
	const { projectRoot } = args;

	log.info(`moveTaskCrossTagDirect called with args: ${JSON.stringify(args)}`);

	// Validate required parameters
	if (!args.sourceIds) {
		return {
			success: false,
			error: {
				message: 'Source IDs are required',
				code: 'MISSING_SOURCE_IDS'
			}
		};
	}

	if (!args.sourceTag) {
		return {
			success: false,
			error: {
				message: 'Source tag is required for cross-tag moves',
				code: 'MISSING_SOURCE_TAG'
			}
		};
	}

	if (!args.targetTag) {
		return {
			success: false,
			error: {

View on GitHub (pinned to c0c98d367c)

Solutions

Pass `sourceIds` with the task ID(s) to move, e.g. sourceIds: "5" or "1,2,3".
If invoking from an LLM, include sourceIds in the tool arguments schema so it is always supplied.
Check your CLI invocation includes --from=<id> (or the equivalent sourceIds argument).

Example fix

// before
await moveTaskCrossTagDirect({ sourceTag: 'backlog', targetTag: 'in-progress' }, log);
// after
await moveTaskCrossTagDirect({ sourceIds: '5', sourceTag: 'backlog', targetTag: 'in-progress' }, log);

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const sourceIds = args.sourceIds;
if (sourceIds === undefined || sourceIds === null || sourceIds === '') {
  throw new Error('sourceIds is required before calling move-task');
}

Type guard

function hasSourceIds(args) {
  return typeof args?.sourceIds === 'string' ? args.sourceIds.trim().length > 0 : Array.isArray(args?.sourceIds) && args.sourceIds.length > 0;
}

Try / catch

const resp = await moveTaskCrossTagDirect(args, log);
if (!resp.success && resp.error.code === 'MISSING_SOURCE_IDS') {
  throw new Error('Provide sourceIds, e.g. { sourceIds: "5" }');
}

Prevention

Always pass sourceIds (even a single ID) with every move_task tool call.
Validate tool arguments in the client before dispatching to the MCP server.
For LLM callers, mark sourceIds as required in the tool's input schema.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling the move-task MCP tool (which delegates to moveTaskCrossTagDirect) without providing `sourceIds` — e.g. args = { sourceTag: 'backlog', targetTag: 'in-progress' } with no sourceIds — hits the guard at mcp-server/src/core/direct-functions/move-task-cross-tag.js:39.

Common situations: Omitting the --from/IDs flag on the CLI move command, an LLM client invoking the move_task tool without filling in sourceIds, or passing an empty string instead of an ID.

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

AI-assisted analysis of eyaltoledano/claude-task-master@c0c98d367c (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9e7a6b8dc3e181f2. Report an issue: GitHub.