Unexpected argument interactions between `ref`, positional arguments, and switch tasks

[Kaelten]

I'm on 0.35.0 and given the below chunk of config, I get unexpected argument behaviors. Specifically

positional arguments not passing along

poe check-all services/some/source/file.py

This still results in the sequenced commands getting evoked as:
ruff check --output-format grouped services shared stubs

fix parameter not getting passed to the switch task

poe check-all --fix

This one is fun because it works for the lint step:
ruff check --fix --output-format grouped services shared stubs

but not the format step

Poe <= fix
Poe => ruff format --check services shared stubs

I don't think I'm doing anything incorrectly, but that's a distinct possibility. Might be worth noting this is running under uv as well.

Config snippet

[tool.poe.tasks.check-all]
help = "runs linting, format, and type checking"
ignore_fail = "return_non_zero"
args = [
    { name = "target", positional = true, multiple = true, default = "services shared stubs", help = "target file(s) or folder(s)" },
    { name = "fix", options = ["--fix"], type = "boolean", help = "automatically fix issues that can be" }
]
sequence = ["lint", "check-types", "check-format"]

[tool.poe.tasks.lint]
help = "check for linting issues"
args = [
    { name = "target", positional = true, multiple = true, default = "services shared stubs", help = "target file(s) or folder(s)" },
    { name = "format", default = "grouped", help = "which format to display output in" },
    { name = "fix", options = ["--fix"], type = "boolean", help = "automatically fix linting issues" }
]
cmd = "ruff check ${fix:+--fix} --output-format ${format} ${target}"

[tool.poe.tasks.check-format]
help = "check for formatting issues"
args = [
    { name = "target", positional = true, multiple = true, default = "services shared stubs", help = "target file(s) or folder(s)" },
    { name = "fix", options = ["--fix"], type = "boolean", help = "automatically fix formatting issues" }
]
control.expr = "fix"
switch = [
    { case = "True", cmd = "ruff format ${target}" },
    { cmd = "ruff format --check ${target}" }
]

[tool.poe.tasks.check-types]
help = "check for type issues with mypy"
args = [
    # TODO: update the default once things are more fleshed out
    { name = "target", positional = true, multiple = true, default = "services", help = "target file(s) or folder(s)" },
]
cmd = "mypy $target"

[nat-n]

Hi @Kaelten,

If I understand your intention correctly then you're almost there...

Ref tasks don't automatically inherit args when defined inside a sequence task, you need to pass the args explicitly:

[tool.poe.tasks.check-all]
help = "runs linting, format, and type checking"
ignore_fail = "return_non_zero"
args = [
    { name = "target", positional = true, multiple = true, default = "services shared stubs", help = "target file(s) or folder(s)" },
    { name = "fix", options = ["--fix"], type = "boolean", help = "automatically fix issues that can be" }
]
sequence = ["lint ${target}", "check-types ${target}", "check-format ${target}"]

Unfortunately ref tasks don't yet support operators in param expansions like ${fix:+--fix} :( So you'd need to use n argument type that accepts a value for that to work. I already have it near the top of my todo list to improve this.

I see how the docs could be clearer on this point.

---

Related discussion: #308 (reply in thread)

[Kaelten]

@nat-n The change to the sequence line you suggested

the --fix flag is successfully getting passed over the the lint command, however the check-format command doesn't, I'm assuming this is related to the control.expr/switch functionality being different than the flag expansion.