fix: normalize task IDs to numbers on load to fix comparison issues (#1063)

* fix: normalize task IDs to numbers on load to fix comparison issues

When tasks.json contains string IDs (e.g., "5" instead of 5), task lookups
fail because the code uses parseInt() and strict equality (===) for comparisons.

This fix normalizes all task and subtask IDs to numbers when loading the JSON,
ensuring consistent comparisons throughout the codebase without requiring
changes to multiple comparison locations.

Fixes task not found errors when using string IDs in tasks.json.

* Added test

* Don't mess up formatting

* Fix formatting once and for all

* Update scripts/modules/utils.js

Co-authored-by: coderabbitai[bot] <136622811+coderabbitai[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>

* Update scripts/modules/utils.js

Co-authored-by: coderabbitai[bot] <136622811+coderabbitai[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>

* Update scripts/modules/utils.js

Co-authored-by: coderabbitai[bot] <136622811+coderabbitai[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>

* fix: normalize task IDs to numbers on load to fix comparison issues

- Added normalizeTaskIds function to convert string IDs to numbers
- Applied normalization in readJSON for all code paths
- Fixed set-task-status, add-task, and move-task to normalize IDs when working with raw data
- Exported normalizeTaskIds function for use in other modules
- Added test case for string ID normalization

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>

* Simplified implementation

* refactor: normalize IDs once when loading JSON instead of scattered calls

- Normalize all tags' data when creating _rawTaggedData in readJSON
- Add support for handling malformed dotted subtask IDs (e.g., "5.1" -> 1)
- Remove redundant normalizeTaskIds calls from set-task-status, add-task, and move-task
- Add comprehensive test for mixed ID formats (string IDs and dotted notation)
- Cleaner, more maintainable solution that normalizes IDs at load time

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>

* chore: run format to resolve CI issues

---------

Co-authored-by: Carl Mercier <carl@carlmercier.com>
Co-authored-by: coderabbitai[bot] <136622811+coderabbitai[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>

.changeset/eleven-horses-shop.md

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"task-master-ai": patch
+---
+
+Fix for tasks not found when using string IDs

.changeset/fix-tag-complexity-detection.md

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+"task-master-ai": patch
+---
+
+Fix tag-specific complexity report detection in expand command
+
+The expand command now correctly finds and uses tag-specific complexity reports (e.g., `task-complexity-report_feature-xyz.json`) when operating in a tag context. Previously, it would always look for the generic `task-complexity-report.json` file due to a default value in the CLI option definition.

scripts/modules/commands.js

@@ -1564,8 +1564,8 @@ function registerCommands(programInstance) {
 		) // Allow file override
 		.option(
 			'-cr, --complexity-report <file>',
-			'Path to the report file',
-			COMPLEXITY_REPORT_FILE
+			'Path to the complexity report file (use this to specify the complexity report, not --file)'
+			// Removed default value to allow tag-specific auto-detection
 		)
 		.option('--tag <tag>', 'Specify tag context for task operations')
 		.action(async (options) => {

scripts/modules/utils.js

@@ -262,6 +262,43 @@ function hasTaggedStructure(data) {
 	return false;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Normalizes task IDs to ensure they are numbers instead of strings
+ * @param {Array} tasks - Array of tasks to normalize
+ */
+function normalizeTaskIds(tasks) {
+	if (!Array.isArray(tasks)) return;
+
+	tasks.forEach((task) => {
+		// Convert task ID to number with validation
+		if (task.id !== undefined) {
+			const parsedId = parseInt(task.id, 10);
+			if (!isNaN(parsedId) && parsedId > 0) {
+				task.id = parsedId;
+			}
+		}
+
+		// Convert subtask IDs to numbers with validation
+		if (Array.isArray(task.subtasks)) {
+			task.subtasks.forEach((subtask) => {
+				if (subtask.id !== undefined) {
+					// Check for dot notation (which shouldn't exist in storage)
+					if (typeof subtask.id === 'string' && subtask.id.includes('.')) {
+						// Extract the subtask part after the dot
+						const parts = subtask.id.split('.');
+						subtask.id = parseInt(parts[parts.length - 1], 10);
+					} else {
+						const parsedSubtaskId = parseInt(subtask.id, 10);
+						if (!isNaN(parsedSubtaskId) && parsedSubtaskId > 0) {
+							subtask.id = parsedSubtaskId;
+						}
+					}
+				}
+			});
+		}
+	});
+}
+
 /**
  * Reads and parses a JSON file
  * @param {string} filepath - Path to the JSON file
@@ -322,6 +359,8 @@ function readJSON(filepath, projectRoot = null, tag = null) {
 			console.log(`File is in legacy format, performing migration...`);
 		}
 
+		normalizeTaskIds(data.tasks);
+
 		// This is legacy format - migrate it to tagged format
 		const migratedData = {
 			master: {
@@ -401,6 +440,16 @@ function readJSON(filepath, projectRoot = null, tag = null) {
 		// Store reference to the raw tagged data for functions that need it
 		const originalTaggedData = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(data));
 
+		// Normalize IDs in all tags before storing as originalTaggedData
+		for (const tagName in originalTaggedData) {
+			if (
+				originalTaggedData[tagName] &&
+				Array.isArray(originalTaggedData[tagName].tasks)
+			) {
+				normalizeTaskIds(originalTaggedData[tagName].tasks);
+			}
+		}
+
 		// Check and auto-switch git tags if enabled (for existing tagged format)
 		// This needs to run synchronously BEFORE tag resolution
 		if (projectRoot) {
@@ -448,6 +497,8 @@ function readJSON(filepath, projectRoot = null, tag = null) {
 			// Get the data for the resolved tag
 			const tagData = data[resolvedTag];
 			if (tagData && tagData.tasks) {
+				normalizeTaskIds(tagData.tasks);
+
 				// Add the _rawTaggedData property and the resolved tag to the returned data
 				const result = {
 					...tagData,
@@ -464,6 +515,8 @@ function readJSON(filepath, projectRoot = null, tag = null) {
 				// If the resolved tag doesn't exist, fall back to master
 				const masterData = data.master;
 				if (masterData && masterData.tasks) {
+					normalizeTaskIds(masterData.tasks);
+
 					if (isDebug) {
 						console.log(
 							`Tag '${resolvedTag}' not found, falling back to master with ${masterData.tasks.length} tasks`
@@ -493,6 +546,7 @@ function readJSON(filepath, projectRoot = null, tag = null) {
 			// If anything goes wrong, try to return master or empty
 			const masterData = data.master;
 			if (masterData && masterData.tasks) {
+				normalizeTaskIds(masterData.tasks);
 				return {
 					...masterData,
 					_rawTaggedData: originalTaggedData
@@ -1412,5 +1466,6 @@ export {
 	createStateJson,
 	markMigrationForNotice,
 	flattenTasksWithSubtasks,
-	ensureTagMetadata
+	ensureTagMetadata,
+	normalizeTaskIds
 };

tests/unit/task-finder.test.js

@@ -23,6 +23,82 @@ describe('Task Finder', () => {
 			expect(result.originalSubtaskCount).toBeNull();
 		});
 
+		test('should find tasks when JSON contains string IDs (normalized to numbers)', () => {
+			// Simulate tasks loaded from JSON with string IDs and mixed subtask notations
+			const tasksWithStringIds = [
+				{ id: '1', title: 'First Task' },
+				{
+					id: '2',
+					title: 'Second Task',
+					subtasks: [
+						{ id: '1', title: 'Subtask One' },
+						{ id: '2.2', title: 'Subtask Two (with dotted notation)' } // Testing dotted notation
+					]
+				},
+				{
+					id: '5',
+					title: 'Fifth Task',
+					subtasks: [
+						{ id: '5.1', title: 'Subtask with dotted ID' }, // Should normalize to 1
+						{ id: '3', title: 'Subtask with simple ID' } // Should stay as 3
+					]
+				}
+			];
+
+			// The readJSON function should normalize these IDs to numbers
+			// For this test, we'll manually normalize them to simulate what happens
+			tasksWithStringIds.forEach((task) => {
+				task.id = parseInt(task.id, 10);
+				if (task.subtasks) {
+					task.subtasks.forEach((subtask) => {
+						// Handle dotted notation like "5.1" -> extract the subtask part
+						if (typeof subtask.id === 'string' && subtask.id.includes('.')) {
+							const parts = subtask.id.split('.');
+							subtask.id = parseInt(parts[parts.length - 1], 10);
+						} else {
+							subtask.id = parseInt(subtask.id, 10);
+						}
+					});
+				}
+			});
+
+			// Test finding tasks by numeric ID
+			const result1 = findTaskById(tasksWithStringIds, 5);
+			expect(result1.task).toBeDefined();
+			expect(result1.task.id).toBe(5);
+			expect(result1.task.title).toBe('Fifth Task');
+
+			// Test finding tasks by string ID
+			const result2 = findTaskById(tasksWithStringIds, '5');
+			expect(result2.task).toBeDefined();
+			expect(result2.task.id).toBe(5);
+
+			// Test finding subtasks with normalized IDs
+			const result3 = findTaskById(tasksWithStringIds, '2.1');
+			expect(result3.task).toBeDefined();
+			expect(result3.task.id).toBe(1);
+			expect(result3.task.title).toBe('Subtask One');
+			expect(result3.task.isSubtask).toBe(true);
+
+			// Test subtask that was originally "2.2" (should be normalized to 2)
+			const result4 = findTaskById(tasksWithStringIds, '2.2');
+			expect(result4.task).toBeDefined();
+			expect(result4.task.id).toBe(2);
+			expect(result4.task.title).toBe('Subtask Two (with dotted notation)');
+
+			// Test subtask that was originally "5.1" (should be normalized to 1)
+			const result5 = findTaskById(tasksWithStringIds, '5.1');
+			expect(result5.task).toBeDefined();
+			expect(result5.task.id).toBe(1);
+			expect(result5.task.title).toBe('Subtask with dotted ID');
+
+			// Test subtask that was originally "3" (should stay as 3)
+			const result6 = findTaskById(tasksWithStringIds, '5.3');
+			expect(result6.task).toBeDefined();
+			expect(result6.task.id).toBe(3);
+			expect(result6.task.title).toBe('Subtask with simple ID');
+		});
+
 		test('should find a subtask using dot notation', () => {
 			const result = findTaskById(sampleTasks.tasks, '3.1');
 			expect(result.task).toBeDefined();