From b5861b1e27163c1b2d6bd5307562aa488ea34b58 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: qingyingliu <37481138+Lewin671@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2026 12:48:47 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] fix: reject include without taskfile or dir (#2892)

Co-authored-by: Valentin Maerten <maerten.valentin@gmail.com>
---
 task_test.go                                  | 19 +++++++++++++++++++
 taskfile/ast/include.go                       |  4 ++++
 .../includes_missing_taskfile/Taskfile.yml    |  5 +++++
 website/src/public/schema.json                | 16 +++++++++++++---
 4 files changed, 41 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 testdata/includes_missing_taskfile/Taskfile.yml

diff --git a/task_test.go b/task_test.go
index db2417a0..dd92f8ee 100644
--- a/task_test.go
+++ b/task_test.go
@@ -1240,6 +1240,25 @@ func TestIncludesIncorrect(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "Failed to parse testdata/includes_incorrect/incomplete.yml:", err.Error())
 }
 
+func TestIncludesMissingTaskfile(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	const dir = "testdata/includes_missing_taskfile"
+
+	var buff bytes.Buffer
+	e := task.NewExecutor(
+		task.WithDir(dir),
+		task.WithStdout(&buff),
+		task.WithStderr(&buff),
+		task.WithSilent(true),
+	)
+
+	err := e.Setup()
+	require.Error(t, err)
+	assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "include must specify taskfile or dir")
+	assert.NotContains(t, err.Error(), "include cycle detected")
+}
+
 func TestIncludesEmptyMain(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
diff --git a/taskfile/ast/include.go b/taskfile/ast/include.go
index 18090b66..64432c19 100644
--- a/taskfile/ast/include.go
+++ b/taskfile/ast/include.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package ast
 
 import (
 	"iter"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
 
 	"github.com/elliotchance/orderedmap/v3"
@@ -171,6 +172,9 @@ func (include *Include) UnmarshalYAML(node *yaml.Node) error {
 		if err := node.Decode(&includedTaskfile); err != nil {
 			return errors.NewTaskfileDecodeError(err, node)
 		}
+		if strings.TrimSpace(includedTaskfile.Taskfile) == "" && strings.TrimSpace(includedTaskfile.Dir) == "" {
+			return errors.NewTaskfileDecodeError(nil, node).WithMessage("include must specify taskfile or dir")
+		}
 		include.Taskfile = includedTaskfile.Taskfile
 		include.Dir = includedTaskfile.Dir
 		include.Optional = includedTaskfile.Optional
diff --git a/testdata/includes_missing_taskfile/Taskfile.yml b/testdata/includes_missing_taskfile/Taskfile.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1832c2ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/includes_missing_taskfile/Taskfile.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+version: '3'
+
+includes:
+  GOBIN:
+    sh: echo $(go env GOPATH)/bin
diff --git a/website/src/public/schema.json b/website/src/public/schema.json
index 0a814bb4..df0637b7 100644
--- a/website/src/public/schema.json
+++ b/website/src/public/schema.json
@@ -718,11 +718,13 @@
                   "properties": {
                     "taskfile": {
                       "description": "The path for the Taskfile or directory to be included. If a directory, Task will look for files named `Taskfile.yml` or `Taskfile.yaml` inside that directory. If a relative path, resolved relative to the directory containing the including Taskfile.",
-                      "type": "string"
+                      "type": "string",
+                      "minLength": 1
                     },
                     "dir": {
                       "description": "The working directory of the included tasks when run.",
-                      "type": "string"
+                      "type": "string",
+                      "minLength": 1
                     },
                     "optional": {
                       "description": "If `true`, no errors will be thrown if the specified file does not exist.",
@@ -758,7 +760,15 @@
                       "description": "The checksum of the file you expect to include. If the checksum does not match, the file will not be included.",
                       "type": "string"
                     }
-                  }
+                  },
+                  "anyOf": [
+                    {
+                      "required": ["taskfile"]
+                    },
+                    {
+                      "required": ["dir"]
+                    }
+                  ]
                 }
               ]
             }