no fields to update; use --name, --description, --context, o

Error message

no fields to update; use --name, --description, --context, or --issue-prefix

What it means

Local validation in `multica workspace update`: the request body built from changed flags is empty. The PATCH endpoint only updates fields whose flags were explicitly set (--name, --description, --context, --issue-prefix); if none changed, sending a request would be a no-op, so the CLI aborts.

Source

Thrown at server/cmd/multica/cmd_workspace.go:586

	}
	return body, nil
}

func runWorkspaceUpdate(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
	wsID, err := resolveWorkspaceArg(cmd, args)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	if wsID == "" {
		return fmt.Errorf("workspace ID is required: pass an id/slug/prefix as argument or set MULTICA_WORKSPACE_ID")
	}

	body, err := buildWorkspaceUpdateBody(cmd)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	if len(body) == 0 {
		return fmt.Errorf("no fields to update; use --name, --description, --context, or --issue-prefix")
	}

	client, err := newAPIClient(cmd)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	ctx, cancel := cli.APIContext(context.Background())
	defer cancel()

	var ws map[string]any
	if err := client.PatchJSON(ctx, "/api/workspaces/"+wsID, body, &ws); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("update workspace: %w", err)
	}

	return printWorkspace(cmd, ws)
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 2c0912b6ec)

Solutions

Add at least one update flag: --name, --description, --context, or --issue-prefix
Verify flag syntax: `multica workspace update acme --name "New Name"`
To only view a workspace, use `multica workspace get <ws>` instead

Example fix

# before
multica workspace update acme

# after
multica workspace update acme --description "Primary workspace"

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

flags := []string{"name", "description", "context", "issue-prefix"}
for _, f := range flags {
    if cmd.Flags().Changed(f) {
        return nil // body will be non-empty
    }
}
return errors.New("no fields to update")

Prevention

Use `workspace get` to view and `workspace update --<field>` to change
Remember flags must appear on the command line; config-file defaults do not count as Changed
Check flag spelling — a typo'd flag silently makes the body empty

When it happens

Trigger: Running `multica workspace update <ws>` with no update flags at all, or with flags set to their default values such that `cmd.Flags().Changed()` reports false for each.

Common situations: Using `workspace update` as if it were `workspace get`; quoting mistakes that make flags land as positional args instead of `--flag value`; flags defined in a config file rather than on the command line (Changed() is false for persisted defaults).

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of multica-ai/multica@2c0912b6ec (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/61a71755ce53b1db. Report an issue: GitHub.