affaan-m/ECC · error · Error

--watch needs a positive seconds value

Error message

--watch needs a positive seconds value

What it means

Thrown by proximity-tick's parseArgs when `--watch` is given a value that is not a positive integer. The watch loop re-scans agent proximity on a fixed cadence, so a zero/negative/non-integer interval is meaningless and rejected up front. `Number.parseInt` plus `Number.isInteger` and `> 0` is the gate.

Source

Thrown at scripts/proximity-tick.js:31

 * Messages are internal ECC agent-to-agent coordination (the ecc2 `messages`
 * table) — not any external channel.
 */

const { resolveControlPaneConfig, buildControlPaneSnapshot } = require('./lib/control-pane/state');
const { createProximityDispatcher, runProximityTick } = require('./lib/control-pane/proximity');
const { createEccMessageSink } = require('./lib/control-pane/message-sink');

function parseArgs(argv) {
  const args = argv.slice(2);
  const parsed = { watchSec: 0, dryRun: false, json: false, help: false, dbPath: null, stateDbPath: null };
  for (let i = 0; i < args.length; i += 1) {
    const a = args[i];
    if (a === '--help' || a === '-h') parsed.help = true;
    else if (a === '--dry-run') parsed.dryRun = true;
    else if (a === '--json') parsed.json = true;
    else if (a === '--watch') {
      const v = Number.parseInt(args[i + 1], 10);
      if (!Number.isInteger(v) || v <= 0) throw new Error('--watch needs a positive seconds value');
      parsed.watchSec = v;
      i += 1;
    } else if (a === '--db') {
      parsed.dbPath = args[i + 1];
      i += 1;
    } else if (a === '--state-db') {
      parsed.stateDbPath = args[i + 1];
      i += 1;
    } else {
      throw new Error(`Unknown argument: ${a}`);
    }
  }
  return parsed;
}

function showHelp() {
  console.log(
    [

View on GitHub (pinned to 01e15490f0)

Solutions

1. Pass a positive whole second count: `--watch 30`.
2. For a one-shot run, omit --watch entirely (watchSec defaults to 0, meaning no loop).
3. Validate env-supplied cadence: integer > 0, else fall back to a sensible default.

Example fix

# before
node scripts/proximity-tick.js --watch 0
# after — one shot (no flag)
node scripts/proximity-tick.js
# or — loop every 30s
node scripts/proximity-tick.js --watch 30

function parseWatchSeconds(raw) {
  const v = Number.parseInt(raw, 10);
  if (!Number.isInteger(v) || v <= 0) {
    throw new Error('--watch needs a positive seconds value');
  }
  return v;
}

function isPositiveIntSeconds(value) {
  return typeof value === 'string' && /^[1-9]\d*$/.test(value.trim());
}

try {
  parseArgs(process.argv);
} catch (err) {
  if (err.message === '--watch needs a positive seconds value') {
    console.error('Pass a positive whole-second count, e.g. --watch 30. Omit --watch for a one-shot run.');
    process.exit(2);
  }
  throw err;
}

When it happens

Trigger: `--watch 0`, `--watch -5`, `--watch 1.5`, `--watch abc`, `--watch` with no following token (parseInt → NaN), or an env-derived cadence that came through empty.

Common situations: User sets `--watch 0` thinking it disables watch (it doesn't — omit the flag for a one-shot); shell variable for seconds expanded to empty; decimal seconds intended but only ints accepted.

Related errors

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

AI-assisted analysis of affaan-m/ECC@01e15490f0 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f7768eed5f8f8dce. Report an issue: GitHub.