What causes "Todo '{}' not found" in nikivdev/code?

Run the todo list command to see current ids and copy the correct one.

Todo '{}' not found

Error message

Todo '{}' not found

What it means

Raised by find_item_index (src/todo.rs:549), which resolves a user-supplied id against stored todo items by exact match or unique prefix match (item.id == id || item.id.starts_with(id)). It bails when zero items match, meaning the referenced todo does not exist in the todo file.

Source

Thrown at src/todo.rs:549

    if title.starts_with("re-run review:") || title.contains("review timed out") {
        return true;
    }
    item.note
        .as_deref()
        .map(|n| n.to_lowercase().contains("review timed out"))
        .unwrap_or(false)
}

pub(crate) fn find_item_index(items: &[TodoItem], id: &str) -> Result<usize> {
    let mut matches = Vec::new();
    for (idx, item) in items.iter().enumerate() {
        if item.id == id || item.id.starts_with(id) {
            matches.push(idx);
        }
    }

    match matches.len() {
        0 => bail!("Todo '{}' not found", id),
        1 => Ok(matches[0]),
        _ => bail!("Todo id '{}' is ambiguous", id),
    }
}

fn resolve_session_ref(session: Option<&str>, no_session: bool) -> Result<Option<String>> {
    if no_session {
        return Ok(None);
    }

    if let Some(session) = session {
        let trimmed = session.trim();
        return Ok(if trimmed.is_empty() {
            None
        } else {
            Some(trimmed.to_string())
        });
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to a747e741ae)

Solutions

Run the todo list command to see current ids and copy the correct one.
Check you are operating on the same todo file/session the item lives in (pass the right --session flag).
If the item was already removed, no action is needed.
Prefix-match a longer, verified prefix of the id to avoid ambiguity while still matching.

Example fix

// before
todo remove a1b2
// after: list first, then use an id from the listing
f todo list
f todo remove a1b2c3d4e5f6

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// confirm the id exists before edit/remove/status ops
const listed = execSync("f todo list").toString();
if (!listed.includes(idPrefix)) {
  throw new Error(`id ${idPrefix} not present in current todo list`);
}

Try / catch

try {
  removeTodo(id);
} catch (e) {
  if (String(e).match(/Todo '.*' not found/)) {
    console.error("Refresh ids with `f todo list`; item may already be gone");
  } else throw e;
}

Prevention

Copy ids directly from `f todo list` output instead of retyping them.
Scope operations to the correct --session so you resolve ids in the right file.
Treat 'not found' after a remove as success (idempotent cleanup scripts).

When it happens

Trigger: Calling edit, set_status, or remove (via run) with an id that is neither a full item id nor a prefix of any stored item id — e.g. a typo, an id from a different todo file/project, or an id of an already-removed item.

Common situations: Using an id copied from another machine's todo list; the todo was already removed by a parallel invocation; truncated/pasted id with a typo'd character; ids rotating if items are regenerated with new UUIDs.

Understand the failure class

Background: 'Could not be found', 'does not exist', 'not found in database': the resource-not-found family when an ID, slug, key, or URI lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of nikivdev/code@a747e741ae (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/de1cf8849ca57e00. Report an issue: GitHub.