rtk-ai/rtk · error

--codex cannot be combined with --auto-patch

Error message

--codex cannot be combined with --auto-patch

What it means

rtk's `rtk init` refuses --codex together with --auto-patch. In Codex mode, patch-mode selection (PatchMode::Auto / Skip) is not supported; Codex setup decides patching behavior internally, so an explicit --auto-patch request conflicts. The validation runs before run_codex_mode is entered, guaranteeing a clean failure.

Solutions

  1. Run `rtk init --codex` without a patch-mode flag (Codex mode manages patching itself)
  2. If you need --auto-patch, drop --codex and use the default agent path: `rtk init --auto-patch`

Example fix

// before
rtk init --codex --auto-patch
// after
rtk init --codex
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const codex = args.includes("--codex");
const patchFlags = ["--auto-patch", "--no-patch"];
if (codex && patchFlags.some(f => args.includes(f))) throw new Error("patch-mode flags are not allowed with --codex");

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Running `rtk init --codex --auto-patch`. Fires whenever `codex` is true and `patch_mode` matches PatchMode::Auto, immediately after the --hook-only conflict check.

Common situations: A user who previously ran `rtk init --auto-patch` for Claude hooks re-runs the command adding --codex to switch agents, keeping both flags. Shell aliases or wrappers that bake --auto-patch into every init invocation.

Understand the failure class

Background: "mutually exclusive" flag errors: what "can't supply both nx and xx", "--raw is not compatible with -i" and "cannot be used with" mean, and how to fix them — this error's family across 29 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of rtk-ai/rtk@0924356b4c (2026-09-19). Data as JSON: /api/errors/31f0431c72e32362. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/hooks/init.rs:407

    hook_only: bool,
    codex: bool,
    patch_mode: PatchMode,
    ctx: InitContext,
) -> Result<()> {
    let InitContext { dry_run, .. } = ctx;
    // Validation: Codex mode conflicts
    if codex {
        if install_opencode {
            anyhow::bail!("--codex cannot be combined with --opencode");
        }
        if claude_md {
            anyhow::bail!("--codex cannot be combined with --claude-md");
        }
        if hook_only {
            anyhow::bail!("--codex cannot be combined with --hook-only");
        }
        if matches!(patch_mode, PatchMode::Auto) {
            anyhow::bail!("--codex cannot be combined with --auto-patch");
        }
        if matches!(patch_mode, PatchMode::Skip) {
            anyhow::bail!("--codex cannot be combined with --no-patch");
        }
        run_codex_mode(global, ctx)?;
    } else {
        // Validation: Global-only features
        if install_opencode && !global {
            anyhow::bail!("OpenCode plugin is global-only. Use: rtk init -g --opencode");
        }

        if install_cursor && !global {
            anyhow::bail!("Cursor hooks are global-only. Use: rtk init -g --agent cursor");
        }

        if install_windsurf && !global {
            anyhow::bail!("Windsurf support is global-only. Use: rtk init -g --agent windsurf");
        }

View on GitHub (pinned to 0924356b4c)