affaan-m/ECC · error

Unknown argument

Error message

Unknown argument: ${arg}

What it means

parseInstallArgs accepts a known set of flags and treats any bare token starting with `--` that is not recognized as an error. Any unknown double-dash argument throws 'Unknown argument: <arg>'. Non-flag tokens are collected as language names.

Solutions

1. Run the installer with `--help` (`-h`) to list valid flags and correct the flag name.
2. Check for typos or plural/singular mismatches (e.g. `--locale` not `--locales`).
3. Use space-separated values instead of `=` syntax if that's the supported form.
4. If the flag existed in an older version, consult the changelog for its replacement.

Example fix

// before
install --locales zh-CN

// after
install --locale zh-CN

const KNOWN = new Set(['--target','--locale','--module','--include','--exclude','--profile','--enable-hooks','--no-hooks','--dry-run','--json','--help','-h']);
const unknown = argv.filter(a => a.startsWith('--') && !KNOWN.has(a));
if (unknown.length) throw new Error(`Unknown flags: ${unknown.join(', ')}`);

null

try {
  const request = parseInstallArgs(argv);
} catch (e) {
  if (e.message.startsWith('Unknown argument')) {
    console.error(`${e.message}. Run with --help to list valid flags.`);
    process.exitCode = 2;
    return;
  }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running the installer with an unrecognized flag such as `--locales` (plural), `--target-dir`, `--lang python`, or a typo like `--dry-run=true` when only bare `--dry-run` is supported.

Common situations: Typoed flag names; flags copied from a different tool's CLI; passing `--flag=value` syntax where the parser expects space-separated values or bare booleans; outdated docs referencing a removed flag.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Unknown argument", "Invalid value", and "must be one of": invalid CLI argument errors explained — this error's family across 35 libraries.

Related errors

• Unknown argument
• Unknown argument
• Unknown argument
• Unknown argument
• Unknown argument

AI-assisted analysis of affaan-m/ECC@8321021c54 (2026-09-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a6090444f8066fa6. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at scripts/lib/install/request.js:85

    } else if (arg === '--locale') {
      const locale = args[index + 1] || '';
      if (!locale || locale.startsWith('--')) {
        throw new Error('Missing value for --locale');
      }
      parsed.locale = locale;
      index += 1;
    } else if (arg === '--enable-hooks') {
      parsed.enableHooks = true;
    } else if (arg === '--no-hooks') {
      parsed.noHooks = true;
    } else if (arg === '--dry-run') {
      parsed.dryRun = true;
    } else if (arg === '--json') {
      parsed.json = true;
    } else if (arg === '--help' || arg === '-h') {
      parsed.help = true;
    } else if (arg.startsWith('--')) {
      throw new Error(`Unknown argument: ${arg}`);
    } else {
      parsed.languages.push(arg);
    }
  }

  return parsed;
}

function normalizeInstallRequest(options = {}) {
  const config = options.config && typeof options.config === 'object'
    ? options.config
    : null;
  const profileId = options.profileId || config?.profileId || null;
  const target = options.target || config?.target || 'claude';
  const moduleIds = validateInstallModuleIds(
    dedupeStrings([...(config?.moduleIds || []), ...(options.moduleIds || [])])
  );
  const locale = options.locale || config?.locale || null;

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