apache/cassandra · warning · IllegalArgumentException

You cannot use more than one flag with this command

Error message

You cannot use more than one flag with this command

What it means

GetStreamThroughput's entire-SSTable branch rejects combining --entire-sstable-throughput with --stream-throughput-mb or --stream-throughput-mib. Passing more than one of these mutually exclusive flags throws this IllegalArgumentException.

Solutions

1. Pass only one flag per invocation
2. Query each throughput variant in separate commands
3. Drop --entire-sstable-throughput if the MiB/Mbit view was intended

Example fix

// before
nodetool getstreamthroughput --entire-sstable-throughput --stream-throughput-mb
// after
nodetool getstreamthroughput --entire-sstable-throughput

COUNT=$((${ENTIRE:+1} + ${MB:+1} + ${MIB:+1})); [ "$COUNT" -le 1 ] || { echo 'only one flag allowed'; exit 1; }

try { run(args); } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) { usage("flags are mutually exclusive"); }

When it happens

Trigger: Running `nodetool getstreamthroughput --entire-sstable-throughput --stream-throughput-mib` (or the -mb variant).

Common situations: Scripts that grew flags over time; operators exploring throughput options and stacking flags.

Understand the failure class

Background: "mutually exclusive" flag errors: what "can't supply both nx and xx", "--raw is not compatible with -i" and "cannot be used with" mean, and how to fix them — this error's family across 29 libraries.

Related errors

• Cannot specify both --sai-only and --include-sai
• You cannot use more than one flag with this command
• argument for sort must be one of
• argument for top must be a positive integer.
• arguments for -F are json,yaml only.

AI-assisted analysis of apache/cassandra@88fd0f6a0e (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3b5f88d3cc5fb32a. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/nodetool/GetStreamThroughput.java:49

    @Option(names = { "-e", "--entire-sstable-throughput" }, description = "Print entire SSTable streaming throughput in MiB/s")
    private boolean entireSSTableThroughput;

    @Option(names = { "-m", "--mib" }, description = "Print the throughput cap for streaming in MiB/s")
    private boolean streamThroughputMiB;

    @Option(names = { "-d", "--precise-mbit" }, description = "Print the throughput cap for streaming in precise Mbits (double)")
    private boolean streamThroughputDoubleMbit;

    @Override
    public void execute(NodeProbe probe)
    {
        int throughput;
        double throughputInDouble;

        if (entireSSTableThroughput)
        {
            if (streamThroughputDoubleMbit || streamThroughputMiB)
                throw new IllegalArgumentException("You cannot use more than one flag with this command");

            throughputInDouble = probe.getEntireSSTableStreamThroughput();
            probe.output().out.printf("Current entire SSTable stream throughput: %s%n",
                                      throughputInDouble > 0 ? throughputInDouble + " MiB/s" : "unlimited");
        }
        else if (streamThroughputMiB)
        {
            if (streamThroughputDoubleMbit)
                throw new IllegalArgumentException("You cannot use more than one flag with this command");

            throughputInDouble = probe.getStreamThroughputMibAsDouble();
            probe.output().out.printf("Current stream throughput: %s%n",
                                      throughputInDouble > 0 ? throughputInDouble + " MiB/s" : "unlimited");
        }
        else if (streamThroughputDoubleMbit)
        {
            throughputInDouble = probe.getStreamThroughputAsDouble();
            probe.output().out.printf("Current stream throughput: %s%n",

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