bug: Invalid schema for response_format 'codex_output_schema':'required' is required to be supplied and to be an array including every key in properties. Missing 'dependencies'.

[Bluboks]

Description

I couldn't expand a task with the expand tool while using codex-cli provider, regardless of trying via command line or MCP server.

Steps to Reproduce

1. set your provider setting to be codex-cli.
2. run task-master expand --id=[your task id]

Expected Behavior

It should have successfully create some subtasks for the given main task.

Actual Behavior

It complains about missing some properties

Screenshots or Logs

---

|_ | _ | | __ | / | __ _ | | ___ _ __
| |/ / __| |/ / | |\/| |/ _ / __| / _ \ '|
| | (| _ \ < | | | | (| _ \ || __/ |
||_,|/|_\ || ||_,|/___|_|

Task Master v0.40.1

[tag] master
Expanding task 7...

[INFO] Reading tasks from .taskmaster\tasks\tasks.json
[INFO] Expanding task 7:
[INFO] Looking for complexity report at: .taskmaster\reports\task-complexity-report.json
[INFO] Complexity report not found. Skipping complexity check.
[INFO] Using default number of subtasks: 5
[INFO] Using standard prompt generation for task 7.

Generating 5 subtasks...
(repeats multiple times)

[ERROR] [codex-cli] Error event: unexpected status 400 Bad Request:
{
"error": {
"message": "Invalid schema for response_format 'codex_output_schema': In context=('properties', 'subtasks', 'items'), 'required' is required to be supplied and to be an array including every key in properties. Missing 'dependencies'.",
"type": "invalid_request_error",
"param": "text.format.schema",
"code": "invalid_json_schema"
}
}

[ERROR] [codex-cli] Turn failed: unexpected status 400 Bad Request
[ERROR] [codex-cli] Process exited with code 1 after ~15s
[ERROR] Codex CLI object generation failed: Codex CLI exited with code 1

[WARN] Attempt 1 failed for role main (generateObject / codex-cli)
[ERROR] Max retries reached for role main
[ERROR] Service call failed for role main (Provider: codex-cli, Model: gpt-5.2)

(repeats similar error sequence for roles: fallback, research — total repeats: several times)

[WARN] Attempt 1 failed for role fallback (generateObject / codex-cli)
[ERROR] Max retries reached for role fallback
[ERROR] Service call failed for role fallback (Provider: codex-cli, Model: gpt-5.1-codex-max)

[WARN] Attempt 1 failed for role research (generateObject / codex-cli)
[ERROR] Max retries reached for role research
[ERROR] Service call failed for role research (Provider: codex-cli, Model: gpt-5.2)

[ERROR] Error during AI call or parsing for task 7
[ERROR] Error expanding task 7
Error expanding task 7: Codex CLI exited with code 1

Environment

• Task Master version: v0.40.1
• Node.js version: 25.2.1
• Operating system: Microsoft Windows 11 Home 10.0.26200 26200
• IDE (if applicable): VScode

Additional Context

I tried switching node version a bit to older ones, namely 22.x.x and 24.x.x, but no luck.

I am also aware of the JSON schema issue discussed in #1522, and I also suffered the exact problem in v0.40.0, and now another schema thing haunts me now.

[coderabbitai]

📝 CodeRabbit Plan Mode

Generate an implementation plan and prompts that you can use with your favorite coding agent.

• Create Plan

Examples

• Example 1
• Example 2

---

🔗 Similar Issues

Possible Duplicates

• bug: #1541

Related Issues

• Invalid JSON Schema for Codex CLI Provider: Missing additionalProperties: false in subtasks schema #1522
• bug: Task expansion fails with JSON parsing error when using claude-code provider #1174

🔗 Related PRs

#1094 - fix(expand-task): include parent task context in complexity report variant [merged]
#1523 - fix: Add .strict() to all Zod schemas for OpenAI structured outputs c… [merged]

👤 Suggested Assignees

• AllyourBaseBelongToUs
• Crunchyman-ralph
• Kl-11

---

🧪 Issue enrichment is currently in open beta.

You can configure auto-planning by selecting labels in the issue_enrichment configuration.

To disable automatic issue enrichment, add the following to your .coderabbit.yaml:

issue_enrichment:
  auto_enrich:
    enabled: false

💬 Have feedback or questions? Drop into our discord!

[github-actions]

Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

1. Invalid JSON Schema for Codex CLI Provider: Missing additionalProperties: false in subtasks schema #1522
2. bug: Claude Code and Codex CLI Provider Failures in parse-prd #1509
3. bug: Task expansion fails with JSON parsing error when using claude-code provider #1174

This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.

• If your issue is a duplicate, please close it and 👍 the existing issue instead
• To prevent auto-closure, add a comment or 👎 this comment

🤖 Generated with [Task Master Bot]

[Crunchyman-ralph]

good catch, thanks for that, will fix asap

[Crunchyman-ralph]

@claude please fix

[claude]

Claude finished @Crunchyman-ralph's task in 5m 48s —— View job • claude/issue-1552-20251229-0844 • Create PR ➔

---

Fixed the codex-cli schema validation issue ✓

Todo List:

• Read repository guidelines (CLAUDE.md)
• Understand the issue and locate the schema definitions
• Find where subtask schemas are defined for codex-cli
• Fix the schema to make all fields required in the JSON schema
• Check for similar issues in other schemas
• Create changeset
• Commit and push changes
• Provide PR creation link

Analysis

Found the root cause in src/schemas/base-schemas.js:

The SubtaskSchema and BaseTaskSchema define fields with .default(), which makes them optional in the generated JSON schema. However, codex-cli (using OpenAI's API) requires ALL properties in the properties object to be listed in the required array, even if they have defaults.

The error message confirmed this:

'required' is required to be supplied and to be an array including every key in properties. Missing 'dependencies'.

Solution Applied

Schema changes:

• src/schemas/base-schemas.js - Removed .default() from SubtaskSchema and BaseTaskSchema
• src/schemas/update-tasks.js - Removed .default() from UpdatedTaskSchema

Application-level defaults:
Added default value handling in all files that process AI responses:

• scripts/modules/task-manager/expand-task.js - for subtask generation
• scripts/modules/task-manager/update-task-by-id.js - for task updates
• scripts/modules/task-manager/update-tasks.js - for bulk task updates
• scripts/modules/task-manager/parse-prd/parse-prd-streaming.js - for PRD parsing

Changes Summary

These changes ensure that:

1. ✅ The JSON schema sent to codex-cli has all properties marked as required (satisfies OpenAI's strict validation)
2. ✅ The application still applies sensible defaults (empty arrays, null values) when the AI doesn't provide them
3. ✅ Backward compatibility is maintained for all other providers (Anthropic, Google, etc.)

What's Next

---

|