CherryHQ/cherry-studio · error · Error

Either baseUrl or command must be provided

Error message

Either baseUrl or command must be provided

What it means

Thrown as the final fallback in transport creation when a server has neither a `baseUrl` nor a `command` field. The transport logic checks in-memory servers first, then baseUrl-based (SSE/streamableHttp), then command-based (stdio). If none match, the server configuration is fundamentally incomplete.

Source

Thrown at src/main/ai/mcp/McpRuntimeService.ts:725

              })
            })
            stdioTransport.stderr?.on('end', () => {
              const remaining = stderrDecoder.decode()
              if (remaining.trim()) {
                getServerLogger(server).debug(`Stdio stderr (end)`, { data: remaining })
                this.emitServerLog(server, {
                  timestamp: Date.now(),
                  level: 'stderr',
                  message: remaining.trim(),
                  source: 'stdio'
                })
              }
            })
            // StdioClientTransport does not expose stdout as a readable stream for raw logging
            // (stdout is reserved for JSON-RPC). Avoid attaching a listener that would never fire.
            return stdioTransport
          } else {
            throw new Error('Either baseUrl or command must be provided')
          }
        }

        const handleAuth = async (
          client: Client,
          transport: SSEClientTransport | StreamableHTTPClientTransport,
          typeOverride?: McpServerType
        ) => {
          getServerLogger(server).debug(`Starting OAuth flow`)
          // Create an event emitter for the OAuth callback
          const events = new EventEmitter()

          // Create a callback server
          const callbackServer = new CallBackServer({
            port: authProvider.config.callbackPort,
            path: authProvider.config.callbackPath || '/oauth/callback',
            events
          })

View on GitHub (pinned to 726446b54c)

Solutions

1. Edit the server configuration in MCP settings to provide either a baseUrl (for SSE/streamableHttp) or a command (for stdio)
2. If the server entry is corrupted, delete it and recreate with valid configuration
3. Add validation in the server creation/import path to require at least one of baseUrl or command
4. Check the database record for the server to see what fields are actually populated

Example fix

// before
const server = {
  name: 'my-server',
  // no baseUrl, no command
}

// after
const server = {
  name: 'my-server',
  command: 'npx',
  args: ['-y', '@my/mcp-server'],
  type: 'stdio'
}

function validateServerConfig(server: Partial<McpServer>): void {
  if (!server.baseUrl && !server.command) {
    throw new Error('Server must have either a baseUrl (for SSE/streamableHttp) or a command (for stdio)')
  }
}

function hasTransportConfig(server: McpServer): boolean {
  return Boolean(server.baseUrl) || Boolean(server.command)
}

try {
  await runtime.getOrCreateClient(server)
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof Error && e.message === 'Either baseUrl or command must be provided') {
    // Server config is incomplete — prompt user to complete setup
    showServerConfigDialog(server)
    return
  }
  throw e
}

When it happens

Trigger: A server entity in the database has both `baseUrl` and `command` as undefined/empty. This can happen with a corrupted entry, an incomplete import, or a server created with neither field populated.

Common situations: Server was partially configured and saved; a migration created incomplete records; the UI allowed saving without requiring at least one of baseUrl or command; programmatic server creation omitted both fields.

Related errors

• Invalid server type
• Invalid command: command must be a non-empty string
• Invalid command: command cannot be empty
• Invalid args: must be an array
• Invalid args: argument at index ${index} must be a string

AI-assisted analysis of CherryHQ/cherry-studio@726446b54c (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8169ca95354fb3dd. Report an issue: GitHub.