affaan-m/ECC · error

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

Error message

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

What it means

After argument parsing finishes, harness-audit.js verifies that parsed.format is one of 'text' or 'json' (the default is 'text'). Any other value, including an empty string from `--format=`, is rejected. The check is lowercased so `JSON` is accepted but `yaml`/`csv`/`xml` are not.

Source

Thrown at scripts/harness-audit.js:128

    if (arg.startsWith('--scope=')) {
      parsed.scope = normalizeScope(arg.split('=')[1]);
      continue;
    }

    if (arg.startsWith('--root=')) {
      parsed.root = path.resolve(arg.slice('--root='.length));
      continue;
    }

    if (arg.startsWith('-')) {
      throw new Error(`Unknown argument: ${arg}`);
    }

    parsed.scope = normalizeScope(arg);
  }

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

  return parsed;
}

function fileExists(rootDir, relativePath) {
  return fs.existsSync(path.join(rootDir, relativePath));
}

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

function countFiles(rootDir, relativeDir, extension) {
  const dirPath = path.join(rootDir, relativeDir);
  if (!fs.existsSync(dirPath)) {
    return 0;
  }

View on GitHub (pinned to 01e15490f0)

Solutions

1. Use --format=text or --format=json
2. Omit --format entirely to accept the default text output
3. Pipe text/json output through a converter if you need another format downstream

Example fix

// before
node scripts/harness-audit.js --format=yaml
// after
node scripts/harness-audit.js --format=json

const VALID_FORMATS = new Set(['text','json']);
const fmt = (parsed.format || 'text').toLowerCase();
if (!VALID_FORMATS.has(fmt)) {
  throw new Error(`Unsupported format '${fmt}'. Use text or json.`);
}

function isValidFormat(value) {
  return typeof value === 'string'
    && ['text','json'].includes(value.toLowerCase());
}

try { runAudit(); }
catch (err) {
  if (/^Invalid format:/.test(err.message)) {
    console.error(err.message);
    process.exit(2);
  }
  throw err;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running --format=yaml, --format=csv, --format xml, or --format= (empty value after the equals sign).

Common situations: Expecting the auditor to emit a format another tool supports, a CI script parameterized with an unsupported format string, or a typo in a wrapper script.

Related errors

• Invalid format: ${parsed.format}. Use text, json, or markdow
• --write requires --json, --markdown, or --format json|markdo
• Invalid format: ${parsed.format}. Use text or json.
• Invalid format: ${parsed.format}. Use text or json.
• Unknown argument: ${arg}

AI-assisted analysis of affaan-m/ECC@01e15490f0 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6d847d6d5a0fe6f2. Report an issue: GitHub.