affaan-m/ECC · error · Error

--launch and --dry-run are mutually exclusive.

Error message

--launch and --dry-run are mutually exclusive.

What it means

parseArgs tracks both launchRequested and dryRunRequested. If both are set it throws, because --dry-run means 'print the launch plan only' and --launch means 'actually open the terminal', which are contradictory. Note the default (neither flag) is already dry-run.

Source

Thrown at skills/terminal-opener/scripts/open-terminal.js:137

    } else if (argument === '--detect') {
      options.detect = true;
    } else if (argument === '--launch') {
      launchRequested = true;
      options.dryRun = false;
    } else if (argument === '--dry-run') {
      dryRunRequested = true;
      options.dryRun = true;
    } else if (argument === '--json') {
      options.json = true;
    } else if (argument === '--help' || argument === '-h') {
      options.help = true;
    } else {
      throw new Error(`Unknown option "${argument}"; put the executable after --.`);
    }
  }

  if (launchRequested && dryRunRequested) {
    throw new Error('--launch and --dry-run are mutually exclusive.');
  }

  validateTerminalName(options.terminal);
  validateCwd(options.cwd);
  if (!options.help && !options.detect && !options.executable) {
    throw new Error('An executable is required after --.');
  }
  if (options.executable) validateExecutable(options.executable);
  validateArgv(options.argv);
  return options;
}

function unsupportedPlan(options) {
  return {
    ok: false,
    reason: 'unsupported-terminal',
    action: `Terminal "${options.terminal}" is not supported. Install WezTerm, then rerun with --terminal wezterm.`,
    terminal: options.terminal,

View on GitHub (pinned to 01e15490f0)

Solutions

1. Choose one: drop --dry-run if you want to actually launch, or drop --launch if you only want the plan.
2. Since dry-run is the default, you can omit --dry-run entirely when you want a plan.

Example fix

# before
node open-terminal.js --launch --dry-run -- echo hi

# after
node open-terminal.js --launch -- echo hi

if (argv.includes('--launch') && argv.includes('--dry-run')) {
  throw new Error('--launch and --dry-run are mutually exclusive');
}

When it happens

Trigger: Passing both --launch and --dry-run on the same command line. parseArgs checks the combination at line 136 after the flag loop.

Common situations: Copy-pasting flags from two sources; a wrapper script that unions both flags defensively; misunderstanding that dry-run is the default.

Related errors

• Invalid terminal name; use a simple adapter name such as wez
• Missing value for ${option}.
• Unknown option "${argument}"; put the executable after --.
• An executable is required after --.
• Multiple ECC repo roots detected: ${uniqueRepoRoots.join(',

AI-assisted analysis of affaan-m/ECC@01e15490f0 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5540097d3a8f63d2. Report an issue: GitHub.