BoundaryML/baml · error

`gh {}` failed: {}

Error message

`gh {}` failed: {}

What it means

Wraps any non-zero exit of the GitHub CLI. The `gh` command (e.g. `gh run list`, `gh run download`, `gh api`) ran but returned failure, and its stderr is surfaced verbatim. This is how the size-gate reports authentication, rate-limit, and not-found problems from gh itself.

Source

Thrown at baml_language/crates/tools_size_gate/src/fetch.rs:205

            && path
                .extension()
                .is_some_and(|e| e.eq_ignore_ascii_case("json"))
        {
            out.push(path);
        }
    }
    Ok(())
}

/// Run `gh` with `args`, returning stdout. Surfaces a clear error if `gh`
/// is missing or unauthenticated.
fn gh(args: &[&str]) -> Result<String> {
    let output = Command::new("gh").args(args).output().context(
        "failed to run `gh` — install the GitHub CLI and run `gh auth login` \
         (or pass explicit report files instead of --branch)",
    )?;
    if !output.status.success() {
        bail!(
            "`gh {}` failed: {}",
            args.join(" "),
            String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr).trim()
        );
    }
    Ok(String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stdout).into_owned())
}

View on GitHub (pinned to bd85ce9dee)

Solutions

1. Read the stderr in this message — it contains gh's own diagnostic
2. Run `gh auth login` locally or set GH_TOKEN in CI
3. Verify the branch/run exists: gh run list --branch <branch>
4. Run the same gh command manually to reproduce and debug

Example fix

// before
gh run download 123 --repo org/repo
// after, with auth fixed in CI
env:
  GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
# or locally: gh auth login

if std::process::Command::new("gh").arg("auth").arg("status").status().map(|s| !s.success()).unwrap_or(true) {
    eprintln!("gh not authenticated; run `gh auth login` or set GH_TOKEN");
    std::process::exit(1);
}

match result {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("`gh") => {
        eprintln!("gh invocation failed: {e}. Check `gh auth status` and that the run/branch exists.");
        // fall back to explicit report files
    }
    Err(e) => return Err(e),
    Ok(v) => v,
}

When it happens

Trigger: Called by fetch_branch_reports and run_has_all_reports whenever a gh subprocess exits non-zero: bad auth token, network failure, nonexistent run/branch, or invalid gh arguments.

Common situations: gh not authenticated in CI (no GH_TOKEN); querying a branch/run that does not exist; rate limiting; gh CLI version too old for the flags used; corporate proxy blocking api.github.com.

Understand the failure class

Background: "git command failed": what it means when a tool shells out to git and git exits non-zero — this error's family across 21 libraries.

Related errors

• `baml pack` failed for fixture {}
• no completed `{CI_WORKFLOW}` runs found on branch `{branch}`
• expected {} size-gate reports from run {run_id}, found {}
• cargo metadata failed
• reports contained no artifacts to bake

AI-assisted analysis of BoundaryML/baml@bd85ce9dee (2026-09-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1fe04adb26547611. Report an issue: GitHub.