nanocoai/nanoclaw · error

${def.name} id is required

Error message

${def.name} id is required

What it means

Thrown by genericGet in src/cli/crud.ts when a `<resource> get` command is invoked without an --id value. Every generic get handler requires the row's id (the resource's idColumn) to locate the record. This is a usage error from the ncl dispatcher, not a DB failure.

Source

Thrown at src/cli/crud.ts:220

      if (column) {
        filters.push(`${k} = ?`);
        params.push(coerceListFilter(column, v));
      }
    }
    const where = filters.length > 0 ? ` WHERE ${filters.join(' AND ')}` : '';
    params.push(limit);
    // Newest first: without an ORDER BY the LIMIT silently hides the most
    // recently inserted rows once a table outgrows it (bit `sessions list`
    // past 200 sessions — a just-created session was invisible).
    return getDb().all(`SELECT ${cols} FROM ${def.table}${where} ORDER BY ${listOrder(def)} LIMIT ?`, ...params);
  };
}

function genericGet(def: ResourceDef) {
  const cols = visibleColumns(def).join(', ');
  return async (args: Record<string, unknown>) => {
    const id = args.id as string;
    if (!id) throw new Error(`${def.name} id is required`);
    const row = await getDb().get(`SELECT ${cols} FROM ${def.table} WHERE ${def.idColumn} = ?`, id);
    if (!row) throw new Error(`${def.name} not found: ${id}`);
    return row;
  };
}

function genericCreate(def: ResourceDef) {
  return async (args: Record<string, unknown>) => {
    const values: Record<string, unknown> = {};

    // Pass 1: generated columns + explicit caller args only. Static defaults
    // wait until after resolveDefaults so the hook sees exactly what the
    // caller provided and a static default never pre-empts context-aware
    // resolution.
    for (const col of def.columns) {
      if (col.generated) {
        if (col.name === def.idColumn) {
          values[col.name] = randomUUID();

View on GitHub (pinned to 294ef2aee8)

Solutions

1. Pass the id: `ncl <resource> get --id <value>`
2. If you meant to browse, use `ncl <resource> list`
3. Guard scripts: check the id variable is non-empty before invoking ncl

Example fix

# before
ncl groups get
# after
ncl groups get --id my-group

if (!id || !id.trim()) { console.error('id required'); process.exit(1); }

function hasId(args: Record<string, unknown>): args is { id: string } {
  return typeof args.id === 'string' && args.id.length > 0;
}

try { await nclGet(id) } catch (e) { if ((e as Error).message.endsWith('id is required')) printUsage(); else throw e; }

When it happens

Trigger: Running `ncl <resource> get` with no --id, or with --id set to an empty string (e.g. `--id ""` from an unset shell variable).

Common situations: Shell scripts passing $ID when the variable is empty; assuming get without id lists rows (use `list` instead).

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• --${col.name.replace(/_/g, '-')} is required
• ${def.name} not found: ${id}
• ${col.name} must be one of: ${col.enum.join(', ')}
• nothing to update — provide at least one of: ${updatableCols
• --folder is required

AI-assisted analysis of nanocoai/nanoclaw@294ef2aee8 (2026-08-28). Data as JSON: /api/errors/20df3882159c71bc. Report an issue: GitHub.