affaan-m/ECC · error · Error

Unknown argument: ${arg}

Error message

Unknown argument: ${arg}

What it means

Thrown by parseArgs in scripts/observability-readiness.js when a token starts with `--` but matches none of the recognized flags (--format, --root, --help/-h). The parser is a strict allowlist: any unrecognized flag is rejected rather than silently ignored.

Source

Thrown at scripts/observability-readiness.js:68

    }

    if (arg.startsWith('--format=')) {
      parsed.format = arg.slice('--format='.length).toLowerCase();
      continue;
    }

    if (arg === '--root') {
      parsed.root = path.resolve(readValue(args, index, arg));
      index += 1;
      continue;
    }

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

    throw new Error(`Unknown argument: ${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) {
  try {
    return fs.readFileSync(path.join(rootDir, relativePath), 'utf8');
  } catch (_error) {
    return '';

View on GitHub (pinned to 01e15490f0)

Solutions

1. Run `node scripts/observability-readiness.js --help` to see the accepted flags.
2. Remove or correct the offending flag; this script only accepts --format, --root, and --help/-h.
3. If you intended the richer dashboard flags, invoke operator-readiness-dashboard.js instead.

Example fix

// before
node scripts/observability-readiness.js --json
// after
node scripts/observability-readiness.js --format json

const OBS_FLAGS = new Set(['--format', '--root', '--help', '-h']);
function assertKnownFlags(argv) {
  for (const a of argv) {
    if (a.startsWith('--') && !a.startsWith('--format=') && !a.startsWith('--root=') && !OBS_FLAGS.has(a)) {
      throw new Error(`Unsupported flag for observability-readiness: ${a}`);
    }
  }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Passing a flag from a different tool (e.g. `--output`, `--quiet`, `--verbose`); typos like `--frm` or `--rot`; using a flag that exists in operator-readiness-dashboard.js but not here (these are two separate scripts with different flag sets).

Common situations: Confusing this script's flags with those of the sibling operator-readiness-dashboard.js (which accepts --json, --markdown, --write, etc.); copy-pasting a command from documentation for a different ECC script; an agent guessing flag names.

Related errors

• ${flagName} requires a value
• Invalid format: ${parsed.format}. Use text or json.
• Unknown argument: ${arg}
• Unknown argument: ${arg}
• --timeout-ms must be a positive number

AI-assisted analysis of affaan-m/ECC@01e15490f0 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d0100af1bbd58f56. Report an issue: GitHub.