OpenBMB/ChatDev · error · ValueError

max_results must be positive

Error message

max_results must be positive

What it means

search_in_files validates its max_results parameter up front and rejects non-positive values. Any value <= 0 (0, negative counts, or a value that coerces to <= 0) raises ValueError before any scanning starts. This is a defensive guard so the result cap is always meaningful.

Source

Thrown at functions/function_calling/file.py:732

        Optional[Sequence[str]],
        ParamMeta(description="Restrict search to these glob patterns"),
    ] = None,
    exclude_globs: Annotated[
        Optional[Sequence[str]],
        ParamMeta(description="Glob patterns to exclude"),
    ] = None,
    use_regex: Annotated[bool, ParamMeta(description="Treat pattern as regex")]=True,
    case_sensitive: Annotated[bool, ParamMeta(description="Match case when True")]=False,
    max_results: Annotated[int, ParamMeta(description="Stop after this many matches")]=200,
    before_context: Annotated[int, ParamMeta(description="Lines to include before match")]=2,
    after_context: Annotated[int, ParamMeta(description="Lines to include after match")]=2,
    include_hidden: Annotated[bool, ParamMeta(description="Search hidden files/folders")]=False,
    _context: Dict[str, Any] | None = None,
) -> Dict[str, Any]:
    """Search workspace files and return structured matches."""

    if max_results <= 0:
        raise ValueError("max_results must be positive")

    ctx = FileToolContext(_context)
    include_patterns = _normalize_globs(globs) or ["**/*"]
    exclude_patterns = _normalize_globs(exclude_globs)

    matches: List[Dict[str, Any]] = []
    searched_files = 0
    compiled_regex: Optional[re.Pattern[str]] = None
    literal = pattern if case_sensitive else pattern.lower()
    if use_regex:
        flags = re.MULTILINE
        if not case_sensitive:
            flags |= re.IGNORECASE
        compiled_regex = re.compile(pattern, flags)

    for candidate in _iter_candidate_files(
        ctx.workspace_root,
        include_patterns,

View on GitHub (pinned to 4fb2db0ea9)

Solutions

1. Pass a positive integer such as 50 or 100 for max_results
2. If you intended 'unlimited', pass a large positive cap instead of 0
3. Fix upstream computation (page size, config default) so it cannot produce 0
4. Add a guard clamping max_results to at least 1 before calling

Example fix

# before
search_in_files(pattern="TODO", max_results=0)
# after
search_in_files(pattern="TODO", max_results=100)

max_results = max(1, int(max_results or DEFAULT_CAP))
search_in_files(pattern=p, max_results=max_results)

def is_positive_int(v) -> bool:
    return isinstance(v, int) and not isinstance(v, bool) and v > 0

try:
    search_in_files(pattern=p, max_results=n)
except ValueError as e:
    if "max_results" in str(e):
        n = 100
        search_in_files(pattern=p, max_results=n)
    else:
        raise

When it happens

Trigger: Calling search_in_files(..., max_results=0) or a negative number; computing max_results from a configurable page size or subtraction that yields 0; passing a falsy default from an unset config value.

Common situations: Pagination code where limit = page_size * 0 or user-supplied limit defaults to 0; config-driven search where a missing setting is treated as 0; CLI wrappers mapping --max-results=0 as 'unlimited' (not supported here).

Understand the failure class

Background: "Must be a positive integer", "Invalid value", "Unsupported": the invalid-argument-value error family, when a library rejects the value you pass — this error's family across 35 libraries.

Related errors

• No node types registered; cannot validate workflow
• Unsupported node type '{ntype}' for node '{nid}'. Only {allo
• Design file not found: {config_path}
• YAML root must be a mapping
• expected mapping

AI-assisted analysis of OpenBMB/ChatDev@4fb2db0ea9 (2026-08-27). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fa4be761ce112f3c. Report an issue: GitHub.