thedotmack/claude-mem · error

Missing required argument: name

Error message

Missing required argument: name

What it means

The prime_corpus MCP tool requires a 'name' argument identifying the knowledge corpus to prime. The handler destructures name from args and throws this error when it is missing, not a string, or blank. The schema also declares required: ['name'].

Solutions

1. Pass the corpus name: { name: 'my-corpus', ...primingOptions }
2. Match the exact key 'name' — not corpusName, corpus, or id
3. Verify the corpus exists / was created before priming by that exact name
4. Validate at the call site: if (!name?.trim()) throw before invoking the tool

Example fix

// before
await callTool('prime_corpus', { sources: ['docs/'] });
// after
await callTool('prime_corpus', { name: 'project-docs', sources: ['docs/'] });

function canPrimeCorpus(args) {
  return typeof args?.name === 'string' && args.name.trim().length > 0;
}
if (!canPrimeCorpus(args)) throw new Error('Provide the corpus name before calling prime_corpus');

function hasCorpusName(args: unknown): args is { name: string } & Record<string, unknown> {
  return typeof (args as any)?.name === 'string' && (args as any).name.trim().length > 0;
}

try {
  return await callTool('prime_corpus', { name, ...options });
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof Error && e.message === 'Missing required argument: name') {
    console.error('prime_corpus requires a non-empty corpus name');
    return null;
  }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling prime_corpus with args lacking 'name', name = undefined/null, a non-string, or an empty/whitespace string (check: typeof name !== 'string' || name.trim() === '').

Common situations: Callers passing only priming options (the rest spread) and forgetting the corpus name; using 'corpus' or 'corpusName' as the key; an LLM omitting the field despite the required schema entry; name derived from an empty config value.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• " " is required
• observation_context: "query" is required
• observation_generation_status: "jobId" is required
• observation_record_event: "eventType" is required
• observation_search: "query" is required

AI-assisted analysis of thedotmack/claude-mem@d8bc9755e7 (2026-09-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e6eeb20073e1540b. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/servers/mcp-server.ts:860

    },
    handler: async (args: any) => {
      return await callWorker('/api/corpus', { query: args });
    }
  },
  {
    name: 'prime_corpus',
    description: 'Prime a knowledge corpus — creates an AI session loaded with the corpus knowledge. Must be called before query_corpus.',
    inputSchema: {
      type: 'object',
      properties: {
        name: { type: 'string', description: 'Name of the corpus to prime' }
      },
      required: ['name'],
      additionalProperties: true
    },
    handler: async (args: any) => {
      const { name, ...rest } = args;
      if (typeof name !== 'string' || name.trim() === '') throw new Error('Missing required argument: name');
      return await callWorker(`/api/corpus/${encodeURIComponent(name)}/prime`, { body: rest });
    }
  },
  {
    name: 'query_corpus',
    description: 'Ask a question to a primed knowledge corpus. The corpus must be primed first with prime_corpus.',
    inputSchema: {
      type: 'object',
      properties: {
        name: { type: 'string', description: 'Name of the corpus to query' },
        question: { type: 'string', description: 'The question to ask' }
      },
      required: ['name', 'question'],
      additionalProperties: true
    },
    handler: async (args: any) => {
      const { name, ...rest } = args;
      if (typeof name !== 'string' || name.trim() === '') throw new Error('Missing required argument: name');

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