multica-ai/multica · error

--runtime-id is required

Error message

--runtime-id is required

What it means

runAgentCreate's second required-flag check: the agent must reference a runtime, so --runtime-id must be non-empty before the create body is built. Without a runtime the server could not determine how to execute the agent.

Source

Thrown at server/cmd/multica/cmd_agent.go:643

			targets = append(targets, map[string]any{"target_type": "member", "target_id": m})
		}
	}
	body["invocation_targets"] = targets
}

func runAgentCreate(cmd *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
	client, err := newAPIClient(cmd)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	name, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("name")
	if name == "" {
		return fmt.Errorf("--name is required")
	}
	runtimeID, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("runtime-id")
	if runtimeID == "" {
		return fmt.Errorf("--runtime-id is required")
	}

	body := map[string]any{
		"name":       name,
		"runtime_id": runtimeID,
	}
	if v, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("description"); v != "" {
		body["description"] = v
	}
	if v, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("instructions"); v != "" {
		body["instructions"] = v
	}
	if cmd.Flags().Changed("runtime-config") {
		v, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("runtime-config")
		var rc any
		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(v), &rc); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("--runtime-config must be valid JSON: %w", err)
		}

View on GitHub (pinned to 2c0912b6ec)

Solutions

1. List available runtimes and copy the exact ID into --runtime-id.
2. In scripts, fail fast when the runtime variable is empty rather than calling the CLI.
3. Verify the runtime ID still exists if the command was drafted earlier.

Example fix

# before
multica agent create --name "code-reviewer"

# after
multica agent create --name "code-reviewer" --runtime-id rt_cli

runtimeID := strings.TrimSpace(runtimeIDFlag)
if runtimeID == "" {
    return fmt.Errorf("--runtime-id is required")
}
// Optionally verify it exists before create:
if !runtimeExists(ctx, client, runtimeID) {
    return fmt.Errorf("runtime %q not found", runtimeID)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running agent create with --name supplied but --runtime-id omitted or empty; referencing a runtime ID variable that was never populated.

Common situations: Not knowing which runtimes exist; copy-pasting a create command template and replacing only the name; runtime ID from a list command that was archived since.

Related errors

• --name is required
• --runtime-config must be valid JSON: %w
• invalid direction %q (want \"up\" or \"down\")
• list agents: %w
• get agent: %w

AI-assisted analysis of multica-ai/multica@2c0912b6ec (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ed5b48b9bc25eab2. Report an issue: GitHub.