Hmbown/CodeWhale · error · Error

invalid --base-url: ${args.baseUrl}

Error message

invalid --base-url: ${args.baseUrl}

What it means

main() runs `new URL(args.baseUrl)` (default 'https://codewhale.net') and converts a parse failure into `invalid --base-url: ${args.baseUrl}`. URL() rejects strings without a valid scheme — 'example.com', values with stray spaces or control characters, or an empty string.

Source

Thrown at web/scripts/compare-deployed-facts.mjs:105

      expected.latestPublishedRelease?.tag ?? null,
      receipt.latestPublishedRelease?.tag ?? null,
    ],
  ];
  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 = {

View on GitHub (pinned to 8880682c63)

Solutions

1. Include the scheme: `--base-url https://codewhale.net`
2. Trim whitespace from env-provided URLs before passing them
3. If the value looks correct, print it with delimiters — invisible characters fail URL() too

Example fix

# before
--base-url example.com
# after
--base-url https://example.com

const raw = String(args.baseUrl ?? 'https://codewhale.net').trim();
let candidate;
try {
  candidate = new URL(raw);
} catch {
  console.error(`invalid --base-url: ${raw} (include the scheme, e.g. https://host)`);
  process.exit(2);
}

try {
  baseUrl = new URL(args.baseUrl);
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof TypeError) { console.error(`invalid --base-url: ${args.baseUrl}`); process.exit(2); }
  throw error;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Passing a bare host without a scheme (--base-url example.com), a value with leading/trailing whitespace or invisible characters, or an empty --base-url.

Common situations: Copy-pasting a domain from a browser address bar without https://; env-injected URLs carrying whitespace; a default overridden with a malformed value in CI.

Related errors

• --base-url must use http or https
• 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/e0277ac8c1409fec. Report an issue: GitHub.