What causes "--id is required" in siyuan-note/siyuan?

Pass an explicit --id with a valid notebook ID: `notebook remove --id `.

--id is required

Error message

--id is required

What it means

Returned by the `notebook remove` subcommand when the --id flag is empty. The RunE handler reads the flag and aborts before touching any model state, because removal requires a target identifier.

Source

Thrown at kernel/cli/cmd/notebook.go:106

}

func formatNotebookWriteError(boxID string, err error) error {
	if errors.Is(err, model.ErrBoxClosed) {
		return fmt.Errorf("notebook [%s] is closed; run `notebook open --id %s` first", boxID, boxID)
	}
	if errors.Is(err, model.ErrBoxNotFound) {
		return fmt.Errorf("notebook [%s] not found", boxID)
	}
	return err
}

var notebookRemoveCmd = &cobra.Command{
	Use:   "remove --id <id>",
	Short: "Remove a notebook",
	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
		id, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("id")
		if id == "" {
			return fmt.Errorf("--id is required")
		}

		if dryRun {
			fmt.Printf("[dry-run] Would remove notebook %s\n", id)
			return nil
		}

		if err := model.RemoveBox(id); err != nil {
			return err
		}
		model.AppendPushReloadFiletreeEntry()
		fmt.Println(id)
		return nil
	},
}

var notebookRenameCmd = &cobra.Command{
	Use:   "rename --id <id> --name <name>",

View on GitHub (pinned to 251596fc0d)

Solutions

Pass an explicit --id with a valid notebook ID: `notebook remove --id <id>`.
If scripting, ensure the ID variable is non-empty before invoking the command.
Run `notebook list` first to obtain a valid ID.

Example fix

# before
siyuan notebook remove
# after
siyuan notebook remove --id 202405121200-realid

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

# shell: assert before invoking
if [ -z "$NB_ID" ]; then echo "NB_ID is empty"; exit 1; fi
siyuan notebook remove --id "$NB_ID"

Type guard

n/a (CLI flag validation)

Try / catch

n/a (command aborts before any side effect; no partial state to recover)

Prevention

Treat required flags as build inputs: validate them in your wrapper script before calling the CLI.
Use `notebook list` to source valid IDs programmatically.

When it happens

Trigger: Invoking `notebook remove` with no --id flag, or with `--id ""` (empty string). cmd.Flags().GetString("id") returns "".

Common situations: Typing the command without arguments expecting a positional ID, assuming a default/selected notebook, or a wrapper script that fails to substitute the ID variable.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of siyuan-note/siyuan@251596fc0d (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/cdc7d1796e7b3a1a. Report an issue: GitHub.