eyaltoledano/claude-task-master · error

Subtask ${subtaskId} not found in parent task ${parentTaskId

Error message

Subtask ${subtaskId} not found in parent task ${parentTaskId}

What it means

After locating the parent task and its subtasks array, removeTask searches for the specific subtask ID. If no subtask in the parent matches the parsed ID, this error is thrown before removal proceeds.

Source

Thrown at scripts/modules/task-manager/remove-task.js:81

				if (typeof taskId === 'string' && taskId.includes('.')) {
					const [parentTaskId, subtaskId] = taskId
						.split('.')
						.map((id) => parseInt(id, 10));

					// Find the parent task
					const parentTask = tasks.find((t) => t.id === parentTaskId);
					if (!parentTask || !parentTask.subtasks) {
						throw new Error(
							`Parent task ${parentTaskId} or its subtasks not found for subtask ${taskId}`
						);
					}

					// Find the subtask to remove
					const subtaskIndex = parentTask.subtasks.findIndex(
						(st) => st.id === subtaskId
					);
					if (subtaskIndex === -1) {
						throw new Error(
							`Subtask ${subtaskId} not found in parent task ${parentTaskId}`
						);
					}

					// Store the subtask info before removal
					const removedSubtask = {
						...parentTask.subtasks[subtaskIndex],
						parentTaskId: parentTaskId
					};
					results.removedTasks.push(removedSubtask);

					// Remove the subtask from the parent
					parentTask.subtasks.splice(subtaskIndex, 1);

					results.messages.push(
						`Successfully removed subtask ${taskId} from tag '${tag}'`
					);
				}

View on GitHub (pinned to c0c98d367c)

Solutions

1. Run 'task-master show 7' to list valid subtask IDs and correct the ID.
2. Verify the subtask wasn't already removed (list again before retrying).
3. Target the correct parent: rebuild the ID as <correctParent>.<subtaskId>.

Example fix

// before
task-master remove-task --i=7.9
// after
task-master remove-task --i=7.2  // confirmed via `task-master show 7`

const [p, s] = taskId.split('.').map(Number);
const parent = tasks.find((t) => t.id === p);
if (!parent?.subtasks?.some((st) => st.id === s)) {
  throw new Error(`Subtask ${s} not under task ${p}. Confirm with: task-master show ${p}`);
}

function subtaskInParent(parent, subId): boolean {
  return parent?.subtasks?.some((st) => st.id === subId) === true;
}

try {
  await tmCore.tasks.removeTask(tasksPath, [`${parentId}.${subtaskId}`]);
} catch (err) {
  if (err.message.includes('not found in parent task')) {
    console.error(`Subtask ${subtaskId} not under parent ${parentId}. List actual subtasks with: task-master show ${parentId}`);
  } else throw err;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling removeTask('7.9') where task 7 exists with subtasks but none has id 9 (ids may only be 1-4, or the subtask was already removed).

Common situations: Stale or guessed subtask indices, subtasks renumbered after other removals, wrong parent supplied so the subtask is under a different task, concurrent edits by teammates/tools.

Related errors

• Parent task with ID ${parentId} not found
• Parent task ${parentId} has no subtasks
• Subtask ${subtaskId} not found
• Parent task ${parentTaskId} or its subtasks not found for su
• PARENT_TASK_NOT_FOUND

AI-assisted analysis of eyaltoledano/claude-task-master@c0c98d367c (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a68ebbc16280d639. Report an issue: GitHub.