affaan-m/ECC · error · Error

Invalid format: ${parsed.format}. Use text, json, or markdow

Error message

Invalid format: ${parsed.format}. Use text, json, or markdown.

What it means

Thrown by parseArgs in scripts/operator-readiness-dashboard.js after parsing, when the resolved format is not one of text, json, or markdown. Format is set by --json (sets 'json'), --markdown (sets 'markdown'), or --format/--format= directly. An unrecognized --format value or a default-then-overwritten path lands here.

Source

Thrown at scripts/operator-readiness-dashboard.js:218

      index += 1;
      continue;
    }

    if (arg.startsWith('--generated-at=')) {
      parsed.generatedAt = arg.slice('--generated-at='.length);
      continue;
    }

    if (arg === '--exit-code') {
      parsed.exitCode = true;
      continue;
    }

    throw new Error(`Unknown argument: ${arg}`);
  }

  if (!['text', 'json', 'markdown'].includes(parsed.format)) {
    throw new Error(`Invalid format: ${parsed.format}. Use text, json, or markdown.`);
  }

  if (parsed.writePath && parsed.format === 'text') {
    throw new Error('--write requires --json, --markdown, or --format json|markdown');
  }

  parsed.allowUntracked = parsed.allowUntracked.map(normalizeRelativePrefix).filter(Boolean);

  return parsed;
}

function readText(rootDir, relativePath) {
  try {
    return fs.readFileSync(path.join(rootDir, relativePath), 'utf8');
  } catch (_error) {
    return '';
  }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 01e15490f0)

Solutions

1. Use one of: --json, --markdown, or omit the flag (defaults to text).
2. If using --format explicitly, pass a lowercase 'text', 'json', or 'markdown'.
3. Quote and validate shell variables so empty values are caught before invocation.

Example fix

// before
node scripts/operator-readiness-dashboard.js --format yaml
// after
node scripts/operator-readiness-dashboard.js --format markdown

const DASH_FORMATS = new Set(['text', 'json', 'markdown']);
function normalizeDashFormat(raw) {
  const f = String(raw || '').toLowerCase();
  if (!DASH_FORMATS.has(f)) throw new Error(`Unsupported format '${raw}'. Use text, json, or markdown.`);
  return f;
}

function isDashFormat(value) {
  return typeof value === 'string' && DASH_FORMATS.has(value.toLowerCase());
}

When it happens

Trigger: Passing `--format yaml`, `--format html`, or `--format csv`. Passing `--format=` with an empty value. Note the format value is NOT lowercased here (unlike observability-readiness.js), so `JSON` would also be rejected.

Common situations: Case mismatch (`JSON` vs `json`); assuming the format strings of another tool; an empty shell variable expanding into `--format=`.

Related errors

• ${flagName} requires a value
• Invalid ${flagName}: ${value}
• Unknown argument: ${arg}
• --write requires --json, --markdown, or --format json|markdo
• Unknown argument: ${arg}

AI-assisted analysis of affaan-m/ECC@01e15490f0 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5261260156866f5e. Report an issue: GitHub.