Hmbown/CodeWhale · error · Error

--base-url must use http or https

Error message

--base-url must use http or https

What it means

After URL() parses successfully, the script requires the protocol to be exactly http: or https: via /^https?:$/. Any other valid URL — ftp:, file:, ws: — triggers `--base-url must use http or https` because the script will immediately build `new URL('/api/facts', baseUrl)` and fetch it over HTTP(S).

Source

Thrown at web/scripts/compare-deployed-facts.mjs:108

  ];
  for (const [field, expectedValue, deployedValue] of checks) {
    if (expectedValue !== deployedValue) {
      differences.push({ field, expected: expectedValue, deployed: deployedValue });
    }
  }
  return differences;
}

async function main() {
  const args = parseArgs(process.argv.slice(2));
  let baseUrl;
  try {
    baseUrl = new URL(args.baseUrl);
  } catch {
    throw new Error(`invalid --base-url: ${args.baseUrl}`);
  }
  if (!/^https?:$/.test(baseUrl.protocol)) {
    throw new Error("--base-url must use http or https");
  }

  const expectedRevision = args.expectedRevision || localRevision();
  if (!expectedRevision || !/^[0-9a-f]{40}$/i.test(expectedRevision)) {
    throw new Error("expected revision must be an exact 40-character Git SHA");
  }
  if (!Number.isInteger(args.attempts) || args.attempts < 1 || args.attempts > 20) {
    throw new Error("--attempts must be an integer from 1 to 20");
  }
  if (!Number.isFinite(args.retryDelayMs) || args.retryDelayMs < 0 || args.retryDelayMs > 30_000) {
    throw new Error("--retry-delay-ms must be between 0 and 30000");
  }

  const facts = buildFacts();
  const expected = {
    sourceRevision: expectedRevision,
    version: facts.version,
    providerCount: facts.providers.length,

View on GitHub (pinned to 8880682c63)

Solutions

1. Serve the facts over HTTP(S) and point --base-url at that
2. For local checks, use http://127.0.0.1:<port>
3. Fix scheme typos (httpss:// → https://)

Example fix

# before
--base-url ftp://mirror.internal
# after
--base-url http://mirror.internal

const candidate = new URL(String(raw).trim());
if (!/^https?:$/.test(candidate.protocol)) {
  console.error('--base-url must use http or https');
  process.exit(2);
}

function isHttpBaseUrl(url) {
  return url instanceof URL && /^https?:$/.test(url.protocol);
}

When it happens

Trigger: --base-url ftp://host, file:///path, or ws://host; scheme typos such as httpss:// that still parse as a URL with a weird scheme.

Common situations: Internal tooling URLs with custom schemes pasted as the deployment base; local file paths; typos in the scheme.

Related errors

• invalid --base-url: ${args.baseUrl}
• unknown argument: ${arg}
• expected revision must be an exact 40-character Git SHA
• Invalid GitHub repository: ${repo}
• Invalid release tag: ${tag}

AI-assisted analysis of Hmbown/CodeWhale@8880682c63 (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e150d504d34daff9. Report an issue: GitHub.