affaan-m/ECC · error · Error

${label} must be a non-empty string.

Error message

${label} must be a non-empty string.

What it means

Thrown by asNonEmptyString(), the shared validator used for nearly every memory-vault string field (title, kind, scope, tags, etc.). It rejects values that are not strings or that are empty/whitespace-only after trimming. The label parameter identifies which field failed.

Source

Thrown at scripts/lib/memory-vault-format.js:79

function hasUnsafeControlCharacters(value, allowBodyWhitespace = false) {
  return Array.from(value).some(character => {
    const codePoint = character.codePointAt(0);
    const allowedWhitespace = allowBodyWhitespace
      && (codePoint === 0x09 || codePoint === 0x0a || codePoint === 0x0d);
    const isControl = (codePoint <= 0x1f && !allowedWhitespace)
      || (codePoint >= 0x7f && codePoint <= 0x9f);
    const isBidirectionalFormatting = (
      (codePoint >= 0x202a && codePoint <= 0x202e)
      || (codePoint >= 0x2066 && codePoint <= 0x2069)
    );
    return isControl || isBidirectionalFormatting;
  });
}

function asNonEmptyString(value, label, maxChars = 10_000) {
  if (typeof value !== 'string' || value.trim().length === 0) {
    throw new Error(`${label} must be a non-empty string.`);
  }
  const normalized = value.trim();
  if (normalized.length > maxChars) {
    throw new Error(`${label} is too long (maximum ${maxChars} characters).`);
  }
  if (hasUnsafeControlCharacters(normalized)) {
    throw new Error(`${label} must not contain control or bidirectional formatting characters.`);
  }
  return normalized;
}

function validateEnum(value, allowed, label) {
  const normalized = asNonEmptyString(value, label, 64);
  if (!allowed.includes(normalized)) {
    throw new Error(`${label} must be one of: ${allowed.join(', ')}.`);
  }
  return normalized;
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 01e15490f0)

Solutions

1. Inspect the label in the error to find which field is empty.
2. Provide a non-empty trimmed string for that field.
3. If the field is genuinely optional in your flow, omit it from the memory document rather than passing an empty string.

Example fix

// before
asNonEmptyString('', 'title');
// after
asNonEmptyString('Auth decision for v2 API', 'title');

function isNonEmptyString(value) {
  return typeof value === 'string' && value.trim().length > 0;
}
if (!isNonEmptyString(title)) {
  throw new Error('title is required and must be a non-empty string.');
}

function isNonEmptyString(value) {
  return typeof value === 'string' && value.trim().length > 0;
}

try {
  result = asNonEmptyString(value, label);
} catch (e) {
  if (/must be a non-empty string/.test(e.message)) return null; // treat as missing
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Passing undefined for a required field, an empty string, a number where a string is expected, or a string of only spaces/tabs/newlines.

Common situations: Reading frontmatter with a missing key; user input that was not sanitized; a generator that omits optional-looking but required fields.

Related errors

• ${label} is too long (maximum ${maxChars} characters).
• ${label} must be a lowercase letters/numbers slug.
• memory id must match mem_<lowercase-id> and cannot contain a
• ${label} must be an array.
• Invalid format: ${parsed.format}. Use text, json, or markdow

AI-assisted analysis of affaan-m/ECC@01e15490f0 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6035cf848a6f7cab. Report an issue: GitHub.