multica-ai/multica · error

--content, --content-stdin, and --content-file are mutually

Error message

--content, --content-stdin, and --content-file are mutually exclusive

What it means

Input validation in the skill create/update content resolution: more than one of --content, --content-stdin, and --content-file was supplied. The CLI counts the provided sources and rejects counts above one because there is no defined precedence among them, so the user's intended content would be ambiguous.

Source

Thrown at server/cmd/multica/cmd_skill.go:198

// trimmed, so agents can round-trip generated SKILL.md content exactly.
func resolveSkillContentFlag(cmd *cobra.Command) (string, bool, error) {
	useStdin, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("content-stdin")
	inline, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("content")
	filePath, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("content-file")
	inlineSet := cmd.Flags().Changed("content")

	sources := 0
	if inlineSet {
		sources++
	}
	if useStdin {
		sources++
	}
	if filePath != "" {
		sources++
	}
	if sources > 1 {
		return "", false, fmt.Errorf("--content, --content-stdin, and --content-file are mutually exclusive")
	}

	if useStdin {
		data, err := io.ReadAll(os.Stdin)
		if err != nil {
			return "", false, fmt.Errorf("read stdin for --content-stdin: %w", err)
		}
		return skillContentBytesToString(data, "stdin content for --content-stdin")
	}
	if filePath != "" {
		data, err := os.ReadFile(filePath)
		if err != nil {
			return "", false, fmt.Errorf("read file for --content-file: %w", err)
		}
		return skillContentBytesToString(data, "file content for --content-file")
	}
	if inlineSet {
		return inline, true, nil

View on GitHub (pinned to 2c0912b6ec)

Solutions

1. Inspect the command line and keep exactly one content source flag.
2. For file-based content use only --content-file; for piped content use only --content-stdin.
3. If scripting with optional sources, build the flag list conditionally instead of passing all.

Example fix

# before
multica skill create --name lint --content-file ./skill.md --content 'x'
# after
multica skill create --name lint --content-file ./skill.md

# Shell: build content flags exclusively
CONTENT_FLAGS=()
[ -n "$CONTENT" ] && CONTENT_FLAGS+=(--content "$CONTENT")
[ -n "$CONTENT_FILE" ] && CONTENT_FLAGS+=(--content-file "$CONTENT_FILE")
[ "${#CONTENT_FLAGS[@]}" -gt 2 ] && { echo "pick one content source"; exit 2; }  # >1 pair means >1 source

Match 'mutually exclusive' in stderr and report which of --content/--content-stdin/--content-file were combined; fail fast in wrappers instead of picking a winner.

When it happens

Trigger: Any `multica skill create` or `multica skill update` invocation combining flags, e.g. `--content '{...}' --content-file ./skill.md`, or `--content-stdin` together with either of the others.

Common situations: Copy-pasted command lines accumulating flags; shell scripts that default both a heredoc and a file; muscle memory from tools where later flags override earlier ones.

Related errors

• --name is required
• no fields to update; use --name, --description, --content, o
• --%s, --%s-stdin, and --%s-file are mutually exclusive; pick
• --%s-file: path must not be empty
• --runtime-id must not be empty

AI-assisted analysis of multica-ai/multica@2c0912b6ec (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ad08ac7a3dd53d27. Report an issue: GitHub.