argoproj/argo-workflows · error

requires either selector or workflow

Error message

requires either selector or workflow

What it means

The 'argo archive retry' command requires you to identify a target workflow either by name argument or by a label selector (--selector). Cobra's Args validator runs before RunE and rejects invocations with neither, because it cannot determine which archived workflow to retry.

Source

Thrown at cmd/argo/commands/archive/retry.go:88

# Retry and watch until completion:

  argo archive retry --watch my-workflow
		
# Retry and tail logs until completion:

  argo archive retry --log my-workflow

# Retry a workflow by name (forced):

  argo archive retry my-workflow --name

# Retry a workflow by UID (forced):

  argo archive retry a0eebc99-9c0b-4ef8-bb6d-6bb9bd380a11 --uid
`,
		Args: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
			if len(args) == 0 && !retryOpts.hasSelector() {
				return errors.New("requires either selector or workflow")
			}
			return nil
		},
		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
			ctx, apiClient, err := client.NewAPIClient(cmd.Context())
			if err != nil {
				return err
			}
			serviceClient := apiClient.NewWorkflowServiceClient(ctx)
			archiveServiceClient, err := apiClient.NewArchivedWorkflowServiceClient()
			if err != nil {
				return err
			}
			retryOpts.namespace = client.Namespace(ctx)

			return retryArchivedWorkflows(ctx, archiveServiceClient, serviceClient, retryOpts, cliSubmitOpts, args)
		},
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 35bff19146)

Solutions

1. Pass the workflow name: argo archive retry my-wf (add --uid to treat it as a UID).
2. Pass a label selector: argo archive retry --selector workflows.argoproj.io/phase=Failed.
3. Check your script's variable for the workflow name isn't empty before invoking.

Example fix

// before
argo archive retry   # no name, no selector -> error
// after
argo archive retry a0eebc99-9c0b-4ef8-bb6d-6bb9bd380a11 --uid

if [ -z "$WF_NAME" ] && [ -z "$SELECTOR" ]; then echo 'need workflow name or --selector'; exit 1; fi
argo archive retry "$WF_NAME"

if ! out=$(argo archive retry "$1" 2>&1); then
  case "$out" in *'requires either selector or workflow'*) usage_exit;; esac
fi

When it happens

Trigger: Running 'argo archive retry' with no positional workflow name and no --selector flag (with or without --uid).

Common situations: Users forgetting the workflow name when they meant to retry by selector, e.g. 'argo archive retry --uid' expecting a prompt; scripting where the name variable was empty.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• Multiple archived workflows found with name '%s': %s (Crea
• requires either a workflow or other argument
• resolve UID: %w
• resolve UID: %w
• resolve UID: %w

AI-assisted analysis of argoproj/argo-workflows@35bff19146 (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e027ecd6a85c1d5a. Report an issue: GitHub.