Rules / Build

LaTeX Error: Something's wrong--perhaps a missing \item — Missing \item

LaTeX expected \item, typically because text appears in a list before the first item.

Fix

Start each entry with \item and move other text out of the list.

Example

Reproduced on TeX Live 2026 by CI · pdflatex · corpus/missing-item

Text inside a list before the first \item

Fails: main.tex
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\begin{itemize}
  Our contributions are:
  \item a new dataset;
  \item a faster solver.
\end{itemize}
\end{document}
What TeX prints in main.log
! LaTeX Error: Something's wrong--perhaps a missing \item.

See the LaTeX manual or LaTeX Companion for explanation.
Type  H <return>  for immediate help.
 ...                                              
                                                  
l.5   \item a
              new dataset;
Try typing  <return>  to proceed.
If that doesn't work, type  X <return>  to quit.