mise prune requires confirmation but there was nobody to…

Error message

mise prune requires confirmation but there was nobody to ask; pass --yes to prune non-interactively

What it means

`mise prune` asks for confirmation before removing tool versions. When the command runs non-interactively (no TTY/stdin to prompt), confirmation is Unavailable; unless --yes (UnavailableConfirmation other than Decline) was passed, mise aborts rather than deleting tools without consent.

Solutions

Pass --yes: `mise prune --yes` to confirm removals non-interactively
Restrict scope so no confirmation is needed, e.g. `mise prune <tool>@<version>` where policy allows
Run prune interactively in a TTY session instead

Example fix

// before (CI)
run: mise prune
// after
run: mise prune --yes

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if [ ! -t 0 ]; then PRUNE_FLAGS="--yes"; fi; mise prune $PRUNE_FLAGS

Prevention

Always pass --yes in CI/scripts for destructive mise commands
Guard interactive commands with a TTY check
Scope prune narrowly so unattended runs are predictable

When it happens

Trigger: Running `mise prune` in CI, scripts, or piped contexts where ui::confirm cannot read an answer, without passing --yes.

Common situations: CI pipeline cleanup steps; cron jobs; shell scripts piping prune output; Dockerfile RUN steps without -it.

Understand the failure class

Background: "--flag is required" and "must specify" CLI errors: how missing-required-flag validation works and how to fix it — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jdx/mise@533346cc37 (2026-09-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5b397b322e941489. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/cli/prune.rs:238

        return Ok(());
    }

    // Ask about everything first, then remove. A prompt in the middle of a
    // live region has to pause it, and the answers are the same either way.
    let mut confirmed = Vec::with_capacity(to_delete.len());
    for (p, tv) in to_delete {
        if let Some(needed) = explain {
            explain_removal(&tv, needed);
        }
        if Settings::get().yes {
            confirmed.push((p, tv));
            continue;
        }
        match prompt::confirm_with_all(format!("remove {} ?", tv))? {
            Confirmation::Yes => confirmed.push((p, tv)),
            Confirmation::No | Confirmation::Unanswered => {}
            Confirmation::Unavailable if unavailable == UnavailableConfirmation::Decline => {}
            Confirmation::Unavailable => eyre::bail!(
                "mise prune requires confirmation but there was nobody to ask; pass --yes to prune non-interactively"
            ),
        }
    }

    let mut progress = removal_progress(
        &mpr,
        confirmed
            .iter()
            .map(|(_, tv)| (removal_key(tv), tv.style())),
    );
    for (p, tv) in confirmed {
        let tool = progress
            .as_ref()
            .and_then(|progress| progress.start_tool(&removal_key(&tv)));
        let pr = match &tool {
            Some(tool) => tool.reporter(),
            None => mpr.add(&tv.style()),

View on GitHub (pinned to 533346cc37)