Fix Goose CLI projects.json Parse Error

Fix the warning Failed to update project tracker with instruction: Failed to parse projects.json file that can occur after updating Goose CLI, caused by malformed JSON in the project tracker file.

Steps

1. Locate the projects.json file The project tracker file is at:

   ~/.local/share/goose/projects.json
   

   Verify it exists:

   ls -la ~/.local/share/goose/projects.json
   

2. Validate the JSON Check whether the file contains valid JSON:

   python3 -m json.tool ~/.local/share/goose/projects.json > /dev/null
   

   If this reports an error, the file is malformed and needs repair.

3. Inspect the file for common issues Read the file and look for:
   • Extra trailing closing braces } at the end of the file (most common cause)
   • Duplicate keys or other JSON syntax errors
   • Truncated or corrupted content
4. Repair the JSON Fix the identified issues. The most common problem is extra }} or } appended to the end of the file after an update. Remove the extra braces so the file ends with a single closing } matching the opening { of the root object. The correct structure is:

   {
     "projects": {
       "/path/to/project": {
         "path": "/path/to/project",
         "last_accessed": "...",
         "last_instruction": "...",
         "last_session_id": "..."
       }
     }
   }
   

5. Validate the fix Confirm the repaired file is valid JSON:

   python3 -m json.tool ~/.local/share/goose/projects.json > /dev/null
   

Notes

• If the file is too corrupted to repair, it is safe to replace it with an empty project tracker: {"projects": {}}. Goose will repopulate it as you use different project directories.
• Do not leave backup files behind after the fix — clean up any .bak copies.

Verification

• python3 -m json.tool ~/.local/share/goose/projects.json exits with no errors
• The Goose CLI warning no longer appears on next session start

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for version history.