Spec Kitty

Contracts

no-selector-error-contract.md

Contract: No-Selector Error (FR-003, FR-004, SC-003)

Mission: feature-alias-removal-01KW0N87 Authority: spec.md FR-003, FR-004, SC-003

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Purpose

After removing the --feature alias, each in-scope command MUST produce a clean, user-readable error when no mission selector is supplied. This contract defines the required error shape so that FR-008 regression tests can assert it precisely.

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Contract Specification

Trigger Conditions

Condition	Example invocation
No --mission flag provided	spec-kitty research
--mission provided with whitespace-only value	spec-kitty research --mission " "

Required Behavior

Property	Required value
Exit code	2
stderr/stdout	Contains a human-readable error string (not a Python traceback)
Exception type	Must NOT be TypeError or any unhandled exception
Message must include	Any of: "--mission", "required", "Error", "No mission handle"

Acceptable Message Shapes

Commands using the inline typer.BadParameter guard produce:

Error: Invalid value for '--mission': --mission <slug> is required

Commands using explicit console.print + typer.Exit(2) produce:

[Error] --mission <slug> is required

Both forms satisfy the contract. The test in FR-008 should assert: 1. result.exit_code == 2 (or result.exit_code != 0) 2. "--mission" in result.output or "required" in result.output.lower() 3. not isinstance(result.exception, TypeError)

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Per-Command Conformance Table

Command	Invocation	Guard mechanism	Exit code
spec-kitty implement <WP>	no --mission	detect_feature_context raises typer.BadParameter	2
spec-kitty merge	no --mission	_resolve_slug_or_exit → if not resolved_mission → typer.Exit(2)	2
spec-kitty next	no --mission	_resolve_mission_slug raises typer.BadParameter	2
spec-kitty research	no --mission	inline guard raises typer.BadParameter (or emits error + Exit(2))	2
spec-kitty context mission-resolve	no --mission	inline guard raises typer.BadParameter	2
spec-kitty accept	no --mission	inline guard + typer.Exit(2)	2
spec-kitty lifecycle plan	no --mission	inline guard raises typer.BadParameter	2
spec-kitty lifecycle tasks	no --mission	inline guard + typer.Exit(2) (or typer.BadParameter)	2
spec-kitty mission-type current	no --mission (auto-detect also None)	inline guard → typer.Exit(2)	2

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Out-of-Scope / Unchanged

and "No such option: --feature" (standard Typer unknown-option error). This is the FR-001 acceptance criterion, not the no-selector guard.

lifecycle.specify) retain their existing error handling unchanged.

• Passing --feature to any in-scope command after this mission: CLI exits with code 2
• Out-of-scope callers (charter/interview.py, charter/generate.py, agent/mission_create.py,

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Regression Test Shape (FR-008)

def test_<command>_no_mission_exits_cleanly(runner, tmp_path):
    result = runner.invoke(app, ["<command>", ...])  # no --mission
    assert result.exit_code != 0
    assert not isinstance(result.exception, TypeError)
    assert "--mission" in result.output or "required" in result.output.lower()

One test per command, eight tests total. Tests may be grouped in a single new file tests/contract/test_no_selector_guard.py or added to the nearest existing per-command test file.