What causes "Unsupported option use: {}" in NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra?

Switch to the canonical long form, e.g. `--port` instead of `-port`.

NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra · error · IllegalArgumentException

Unsupported option use: {}

Error message

Unsupported option use: {}

What it means

Thrown when an argument starts with a single dash '-' but not '--', and that token is not a registered key in SHORTCUT_OPTION_MAP. The tool resolves single-dash shortcuts to their long form; an unmapped shortcut is rejected.

Source

Thrown at Ghidra/Features/BSim/src/main/java/ghidra/features/bsim/query/BSimControlLaunchable.java:271

		for (int i = discard; i < params.length; ++i) {
			String optionName = params[i];
			String value = null;

			if (optionName.startsWith("-")) {
				// although not prefered, allow option value to be specified as --option=value
				int ix = optionName.indexOf("=");
				if (ix > 1) {
					value = optionName.substring(ix + 1);
					optionName = optionName.substring(0, ix);
				}
			}

			String option = optionName;

			if (optionName.startsWith("-") && !optionName.startsWith("--")) {
				option = SHORTCUT_OPTION_MAP.get(optionName); // map option to -- long form
				if (option == null) {
					throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unsupported option use: " + optionName);
				}
			}

			if (!option.startsWith("--")) {
				throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unexpected argument: " + option);
			}

			if (!GLOBAL_OPTIONS.contains(option) && !allowedParams.contains(option)) {
				throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unsupported option use: " + optionName);
			}

			if (!VALUE_OPTIONS.contains(option)) {
				// option without value arg
				if (value != null) {
					throw new IllegalArgumentException(
						"Unsupported option specification: " + optionName + "=");
				}
			}

View on GitHub (pinned to d5f144c24d)

Solutions

Switch to the canonical long form, e.g. `--port` instead of `-port`.
Verify the shortcut actually exists by checking SHORTCUT_OPTION_MAP in source.
Run --help to see the accepted options and their shortcuts.

Example fix

// before
bsim control configure host -p 5432   // if -p is unmapped
// after
bsim control configure host --port 5432

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Resolve single-dash shortcuts yourself before delegating, or reject unknown ones early.
String resolved = SHORTCUT_OPTION_MAP.containsKey(token) ? SHORTCUT_OPTION_MAP.get(token) : null;
if (token.startsWith("-") && !token.startsWith("--") && resolved == null) {
    System.err.println("Unknown shortcut: " + token + ". Use a --long option.");
    return;
}

Try / catch

try {
    launchable.readOptions(command, params, discard);
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().startsWith("Unsupported option use:")) {
        suggestLongFormOptions();
    }
    throw e;
}

Prevention

Prefer the canonical --long form in scripts and docs to avoid shortcut ambiguity.
Document the registered shortcuts next to each long option.
Reject unknown single-dash tokens early with a helpful message.

When it happens

Trigger: Passing an unknown short flag such as `-x` or `-p` where `-p` is not a registered shortcut (line 271). Any single-dash token absent from SHORTCUT_OPTION_MAP triggers it.

Common situations: Using a single dash for what should be a long option (e.g. `-port` instead of `--port`), assuming a shortcut exists when it does not, or typos in shortcut flags.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra@d5f144c24d (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7c496c14af1511e4. Report an issue: GitHub.