Hmbown/CodeWhale · error

is required

Error message

${name} is required

What it means

The telegram bridge's requiredEnv reads process.env[name] and throws if the value is missing or whitespace-only, guaranteeing the bridge starts only with its mandatory configuration present. The message identifies the exact missing variable. It is a fail-fast startup guard analogous to the one in the Feishu bridge.

Solutions

1. Export the named variable with a correct value and restart the bridge.
2. Verify your .env/secret mechanism actually populates the process environment (echo it in a debug run or docker exec env).
3. Check the variable name spelling and case against the error message.

Example fix

// before
node src/index.mjs
// Error: TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN is required

// after
export TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN="123456:ABC..."
node src/index.mjs

function hasEnv(name) {
  const v = process.env[name];
  return typeof v === "string" && v.trim().length > 0;
}
if (!hasEnv("TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN")) {
  throw new Error("TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN must be set before starting the bridge");
}

const isNonEmptyString = (v) => typeof v === "string" && v.trim().length > 0;

try {
  startBridge();
} catch (err) {
  if (err instanceof Error && err.message.endsWith("is required")) {
    console.error(`Missing config: ${err.message}. Export the variable or fix your .env loading.`);
    process.exit(1);
  }
  throw err;
}

When it happens

Trigger: requiredEnv('NAME') is called at startup (or lazily before an API call) and process.env.NAME is undefined, empty, or contains only whitespace.

Common situations: Forgot to export the bot token/secret before launching, .env file not loaded, Docker/CI secret not wired into the container environment, or a variable renamed in a newer bridge version.

Understand the failure class

Background: "environment variable is not set" and "Missing keys in environment" errors: what missing required env var messages mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

• is required
• is required
• is required
• supabase-not-configured
• 127

AI-assisted analysis of Hmbown/CodeWhale@433685b202 (2026-09-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3eed63fd8eedf0b4. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at integrations/telegram-bridge/src/index.mjs:992

    signal: options.signal
  });
  const payload = await readJsonSafe(response);
  if (!response.ok || payload?.ok === false) {
    const error = new Error(
      payload?.description || `Telegram API request failed (${response.status})`
    );
    error.errorCode = payload?.error_code || response.status;
    error.description = payload?.description || "";
    error.parameters = payload?.parameters || {};
    throw error;
  }
  return payload.result;
}

function requiredEnv(name) {
  const value = process.env[name];
  if (!value || !value.trim()) {
    throw new Error(`${name} is required`);
  }
  return value.trim();
}

function requiredEnvFirst(...names) {
  const value = envFirst(process.env, ...names);
  if (!value) {
    throw new Error(`${names.join(" or ")} is required`);
  }
  return value;
}

function delay(ms) {
  return new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
}

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