siyuan-note/siyuan · error

--av and --key are required

Error message

--av and --key are required

What it means

Thrown by `database key remove` when `--av` or `--key` is empty. Removing a field needs both the database ID and the key (field) ID to pass to `model.RemoveAttributeViewKey`. The `--remove-relation-dest` bool is optional and not part of this guard.

Source

Thrown at kernel/cli/cmd/database.go:174

		keyID := ast.NewNodeID()
		if err := model.AddAttributeViewKey(avID, "", keyID, name, keyType, icon, prev, av.DateDisplayFormatFull); err != nil {
			return err
		}
		model.AppendPushReloadAttrViewEntry(avID)
		fmt.Println(keyID)
		return nil
	},
}

var databaseKeyRemoveCmd = &cobra.Command{
	Use:   "remove --av <avID> --key <keyID>",
	Short: "Remove a key (field) from database",
	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
		avID, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("av")
		keyID, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("key")
		removeRelation, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("remove-relation-dest")
		if avID == "" || keyID == "" {
			return fmt.Errorf("--av and --key are required")
		}

		if dryRun {
			fmt.Printf("[dry-run] Would remove key %s from database %s\n", keyID, avID)
			return nil
		}

		if err := model.RemoveAttributeViewKey(avID, keyID, removeRelation); err != nil {
			return err
		}
		model.AppendPushReloadAttrViewEntry(avID)
		fmt.Println("ok")
		return nil
	},
}

var databaseUnusedCmd = &cobra.Command{
	Use:   "unused",

View on GitHub (pinned to 251596fc0d)

Solutions

1. List keys first with `siyuan database keys --av <id> --output json` to obtain each field's ID
2. Pass both: `siyuan database key remove --av <avID> --key <keyID>`
3. Use `--dry-run` to preview the removal before mutating

Example fix

// before
siyuan database key remove --av 20240101000000-av12345

// after
siyuan database key remove --av 20240101000000-av12345 --key 20240101000000-key1234

if strings.TrimSpace(avID) == "" || strings.TrimSpace(keyID) == "" {
    log.Fatal("--av and --key are required")
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `siyuan database key remove --av <id>` without `--key`, or omitting both.

Common situations: Confusing the key ID with the key name (the command wants the field's internal ID, not its display name), or not knowing where to find it.

Related errors

• --av, --name and --type are required
• --av is required
• --av and --ids are required
• --block is required for non-detached rows
• --av, --key, --item and --value are required

AI-assisted analysis of siyuan-note/siyuan@251596fc0d (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a3970f19c3dfed65. Report an issue: GitHub.