eyaltoledano/claude-task-master · error

storeTasksInGit must be a boolean

Error message

storeTasksInGit must be a boolean

What it means

validateInputs requires storeTasksInGit to be a strict boolean because it decides whether task files are ignored or committed. Non-boolean truthy/falsy values (strings 'true'/'false', 0/1, undefined) are rejected to avoid ambiguous behavior in the generated .gitignore rules.

Source

Thrown at src/utils/manage-gitignore.js:161

 * @param {string} content - Template content
 * @param {boolean} storeTasksInGit - Storage preference
 * @throws {Error} If validation fails
 */
function validateInputs(targetPath, content, storeTasksInGit) {
	if (!targetPath || typeof targetPath !== 'string') {
		throw new Error('targetPath must be a non-empty string');
	}

	if (!targetPath.endsWith('.gitignore')) {
		throw new Error('targetPath must end with .gitignore');
	}

	if (!content || typeof content !== 'string') {
		throw new Error('content must be a non-empty string');
	}

	if (typeof storeTasksInGit !== 'boolean') {
		throw new Error('storeTasksInGit must be a boolean');
	}
}

/**
 * Creates a new .gitignore file from template
 * @param {string} targetPath - Path to create file at
 * @param {string[]} templateLines - Adjusted template lines
 * @param {function} log - Logging function
 */
function createNewGitignoreFile(targetPath, templateLines, log) {
	try {
		fs.writeFileSync(targetPath, templateLines.join('\n') + '\n');
		if (typeof log === 'function') {
			log('success', `Created ${targetPath} with full template`);
		}
	} catch (error) {
		if (typeof log === 'function') {
			log('error', `Failed to create ${targetPath}: ${error.message}`);

View on GitHub (pinned to c0c98d367c)

Solutions

1. Pass a real boolean: manageGitignoreFile(p, content, storeTasksInGit === true)
2. Coerce env/CLI strings explicitly: const flag = process.env.TM_STORE_TASKS === 'true'
3. Ensure the CLI/config layer parses the option with a boolean type (Commander .boolean option, JSON schema default false)

Example fix

// before
const store = process.env.STORE_TASKS_IN_GIT; // 'true' string
manageGitignoreFile(p, content, store);
// after
const store = process.env.STORE_TASKS_IN_GIT === 'true';
manageGitignoreFile(p, content, store);

if (typeof storeTasksInGit !== 'boolean') {
  storeTasksInGit = storeTasksInGit === 'true' || storeTasksInGit === 1;
}

const isBoolean = (v) => typeof v === 'boolean';

try {
  manageGitignoreFile(targetPath, content, storeTasksInGit);
} catch (err) {
  if (err.message === 'storeTasksInGit must be a boolean') {
    manageGitignoreFile(targetPath, content, Boolean(storeTasksInGit) && storeTasksInGit !== 'false');
  } else throw err;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling manageGitignoreFile where the fourth argument is undefined (option not provided), a CLI string flag ('true'/'false' from process.argv or env), or a numeric 0/1.

Common situations: Reading the preference from a JSON/env layer that yields strings; forgetting to pass the argument in a programmatic call; CLI parsing that does not coerce --store-tasks to a real boolean.

Understand the failure class

Background: Invalid argument type errors: "must be of type string", "expected X, got Y", and ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE explained — this error's family across 15 libraries.

Related errors

• targetPath must be a non-empty string
• targetPath must end with .gitignore
• content must be a non-empty string
• Failed to fetch tasks from any tag. First error: ${failedTag
• ${authCheck.error}

AI-assisted analysis of eyaltoledano/claude-task-master@c0c98d367c (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c280489e177c07a9. Report an issue: GitHub.