Egonex-AI/Understand-Anything · error · CliUsageError

--output must be outside the subject repository

Error message

--output must be outside the subject repository

What it means

CliUsageError thrown by parseArgs when the resolved output JSON path is inside (or equal to) the subject repository root. The benchmark intentionally writes all artifacts outside the repo to keep the subject tree clean and to avoid contaminating git metadata/digests used for reproducibility.

Source

Thrown at scripts/lib/large-repo-benchmark.mjs:271

  }

  const repoRoot = resolve(cwd, repoValue);
  if (!existsSync(repoRoot)) {
    throw new CliUsageError(`Repository path does not exist: ${repoValue}`);
  }
  if (!statSync(repoRoot).isDirectory()) {
    throw new CliUsageError(`Repository path is not a directory: ${repoValue}`);
  }

  const outputPath = resolve(cwd, outputValue);
  const markdownPath = resolve(
    cwd,
    outputPath.toLowerCase().endsWith('.json')
      ? `${outputPath.slice(0, -'.json'.length)}.md`
      : `${outputPath}.md`,
  );
  if (isPathInsideOrEqual(repoRoot, outputPath)) {
    throw new CliUsageError('--output must be outside the subject repository');
  }
  if (isPathInsideOrEqual(repoRoot, markdownPath)) {
    throw new CliUsageError('Markdown report path must be outside the subject repository');
  }

  return {
    help: false,
    repoRoot,
    outputPath,
    markdownPath,
    label: label || basename(repoRoot),
    concurrency,
    keepArtifacts,
  };
}

export function helpText() {
  return `Usage:

View on GitHub (pinned to 32944829e7)

Solutions

1. Choose an output directory outside the subject repository, e.g. ../reports/out.json.
2. Use an absolute path in a separate reports directory.
3. Confirm with --help that artifacts must live outside the subject repo.
4. If you need the report in the repo later, copy it there after the run completes.

Example fix

# before
node benchmark-large-repo.mjs myrepo --output myrepo/out.json
# after
node benchmark-large-repo.mjs myrepo --output ../reports/out.json

import { isPathInsideOrEqual } from './lib/large-repo-benchmark.mjs';
if (isPathInsideOrEqual(repoRoot, resolve(cwd, outputValue))) { /* choose a path outside the repo */ }

try { const opts = parseArgs(argv); } catch (e) { if ((e as Error).name === 'CliUsageError') { console.error(e.message); process.exit(2); } throw e; }

When it happens

Trigger: Passing --output path/to/report.json where the resolved path falls under repoRoot; pointing output at the repo root itself; using a relative path that resolves into the repo when combined with cwd.

Common situations: Defaulting the output to inside the project for convenience; a relative path that happened to land inside the repo; misunderstanding the requirement that artifacts stay external.

Related errors

• Markdown report path must be outside the subject repository
• Repository path does not exist: ${repoValue}
• Repository path is not a directory: ${repoValue}
• Unable to remove temporary benchmark artifacts
• ${flag} requires a value

AI-assisted analysis of Egonex-AI/Understand-Anything@32944829e7 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e4bfda975be739ac. Report an issue: GitHub.