ruvnet/ruflo · error · PodTemplateValidationError

bench.successCriteria must have ≥1 entry

Error message

bench.successCriteria must have ≥1 entry

What it means

Thrown by validatePodBench() when bench.successCriteria is a valid array but has zero entries. A bench must have at least one acceptance criterion — an empty criteria list would make Darwin /loop scoring vacuous, so the schema enforces ≥1.

Source

Thrown at v3/@claude-flow/cli/src/business-pods/pod-schema.ts:147

    role: requireString(item, 'role', path),
    agentType: requireString(item, 'agentType', path),
    description: requireString(item, 'description', path),
    preferLocal: requireBoolean(item, 'preferLocal', path),
  };
}

function validatePodBench(item: unknown, path: string): PodBench {
  if (!isObject(item)) throw new PodTemplateValidationError('bench must be an object', path);
  const name = requireString(item, 'name', path);
  const description = requireString(item, 'description', path);
  const successCriteria = requireArray(item, 'successCriteria', path, (s, sp) => {
    if (typeof s !== 'string' || s.length === 0) {
      throw new PodTemplateValidationError('successCriteria entries must be non-empty strings', sp);
    }
    return s;
  });
  if (successCriteria.length === 0) {
    throw new PodTemplateValidationError('bench.successCriteria must have ≥1 entry', path);
  }
  const scheduleHours = requireNumber(item, 'scheduleHours', path);
  if (scheduleHours < 1) {
    throw new PodTemplateValidationError('bench.scheduleHours must be ≥1', path);
  }
  return { name, description, successCriteria, scheduleHours };
}

function validateAuditReadView(item: unknown, path: string): PodAuditReadView {
  if (!isObject(item)) {
    throw new PodTemplateValidationError('auditReadView must be an object', path);
  }
  const includedEventTypes = requireArray(item, 'includedEventTypes', path, (s, sp) => {
    if (typeof s !== 'string' || s.length === 0) {
      throw new PodTemplateValidationError('includedEventTypes entries must be non-empty strings', sp);
    }
    return s;
  });

View on GitHub (pinned to fa13ee4ad6)

Solutions

1. Add at least one concrete, measurable criterion string to bench.successCriteria
2. If the pod genuinely has no success definition yet, finish defining it before registering the template — the schema intentionally blocks criterion-less pods
3. Use the /bench/successCriteria path from the error to locate the list
4. Lint in CI so placeholder templates can't ship

Example fix

// before
"bench": { "name": "b", "description": "d", "successCriteria": [], "scheduleHours": 24 }
// after
"bench": { "name": "b", "description": "d", "successCriteria": ["≥1 closed deal per month"], "scheduleHours": 24 }

const criteria = (template.bench as { successCriteria?: string[] }).successCriteria ?? [];
if (criteria.length === 0) fail('bench.successCriteria needs at least one measurable criterion');

function hasAtLeastOneCriterion(bench: unknown): boolean {
  return typeof bench === 'object' && bench !== null &&
    Array.isArray((bench as { successCriteria?: unknown[] }).successCriteria) &&
    ((bench as { successCriteria: unknown[] }).successCriteria.length > 0);
}

try {
  validatePodTemplate(template);
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof PodTemplateValidationError && e.message.includes('must have ≥1 entry')) {
    fail('A bench without acceptance criteria makes /loop scoring meaningless — add one');
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: validatePodTemplate() with "successCriteria": [] (all other bench fields fine). The earlier requireArray check passes because [] is an array; only the length check catches it.

Common situations: Templates scaffolded with empty placeholder lists to 'fill in later'; programmatic generation that filters out all criteria for some pods; users assuming criteria are optional decoration.

Understand the failure class

Background: Schema validation failed / invalid input schema: payload rejected because its shape doesn't match the expected schema — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

• bench must be an object
• successCriteria entries must be non-empty strings
• field "${key}" must be a non-empty string
• field "${key}" must be a finite number
• field "${key}" must be a boolean

AI-assisted analysis of ruvnet/ruflo@fa13ee4ad6 (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/597ae633051ccb45. Report an issue: GitHub.