What causes "model name cannot be empty" in alibaba/open-code-review?

Add or select a model for the provider before saving (use the provider TUI to add one)

model name cannot be empty

Error message

model name cannot be empty

What it means

runConfigModel validates the model chosen in the TUI after the program exits; if final.selectedModel() is empty, it refuses to persist and returns this error. It guards against writing an empty Model value into the config, which would leave the CLI without a usable model for LLM calls.

Source

Thrown at cmd/opencodereview/provider_cmd.go:385

		ConfigPath:     configPath,
		ProviderName:   cfg.Provider,
		IsCustom:       isCustom,
	})
	p := tea.NewProgram(m)
	finalModel, err := p.Run()
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("TUI error: %w", err)
	}

	final := finalModel.(modelTUIModel)
	if final.cancelled {
		printWizardCancelled(final.savedInSession, "Model list changes")
		return nil
	}

	selectedModel := final.selectedModel()
	if selectedModel == "" {
		return fmt.Errorf("model name cannot be empty")
	}

	if isCustom {
		if cfg.CustomProviders == nil {
			cfg.CustomProviders = make(map[string]ProviderEntry)
		}
		entry := cfg.CustomProviders[cfg.Provider]
		entry.Model = selectedModel
		entry.Models = ensureModelInList(entry.Models, selectedModel)
		cfg.CustomProviders[cfg.Provider] = entry
	} else {
		if cfg.Providers == nil {
			cfg.Providers = make(map[string]ProviderEntry)
		}
		entry := cfg.Providers[cfg.Provider]
		entry.Model = selectedModel
		// Use registry-only list: provider.Models was captured before the TUI and
		// may include stale entry.Models from add/delete during the session.

View on GitHub (pinned to 5cf97d0d15)

Solutions

Add or select a model for the provider before saving (use the provider TUI to add one)
Verify the provider entry has a non-empty Models list in the config file
Check network/registry availability so official provider model lists load correctly
If it persists, cancel out of the wizard instead of confirming with no selection

Example fix

// before: confirming an empty list in the TUI
selectedModel := final.selectedModel() // ""
// after: add a model first (custom provider)
$ ocr config provider add-model my-model
then re-run the model picker and confirm a highlighted selection

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// before trusting the selection
if selected := final.selectedModel(); strings.TrimSpace(selected) == "" {
    return fmt.Errorf("model name cannot be empty")
}

Try / catch

if err := runConfigModel(...); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "model name cannot be empty") {
        fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "no model selected — pick a model or cancel with Esc/q")
        return nil
    }
    return err
}

Prevention

Ensure the provider has at least one model in its Models list before opening the picker
Cancel the wizard (Esc/q) rather than confirming with nothing selected
Verify registry/model-list loading succeeded (network reachable) before the TUI

When it happens

Trigger: Finishing the model-selection TUI without a selection (e.g. the model list is empty or the current selection index points at nothing) and not cancelling — finalModel is non-cancelled but selectedModel() returns "".

Common situations: A custom provider with an empty Models list; a registry/official provider whose model list failed to load; a TUI state bug where selection was never initialized.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of alibaba/open-code-review@5cf97d0d15 (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b2ed11b0a6cf8022. Report an issue: GitHub.