bettercap/bettercap · error

Invalid argument not valid semver ('${version}' received)

Error message

Invalid argument not valid semver ('${version}' received)

What it means

Validation in the same semver utility's validate(): the argument is a string but fails the semver regular-expression test, so it cannot be parsed as MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH (with optional pre-release/build). Fired when users pass loose version strings like '1.2', 'v1', or free text.

Source

Thrown at modules/ui/ui/vendor.js:91736

  function split(v) {
    var c = v.replace(/^v/, '').replace(/\+.*$/, '');
    var patchIndex = indexOrEnd(c, '-');
    var arr = c.substring(0, patchIndex).split('.');
    arr.push(c.substring(patchIndex + 1));
    return arr;
  }

  function tryParse(v) {
    return isNaN(Number(v)) ? v : Number(v);
  }

  function validate(version) {
    if (typeof version !== 'string') {
      throw new TypeError('Invalid argument expected string');
    }
    if (!semver.test(version)) {
      throw new Error('Invalid argument not valid semver (\''+version+'\' received)');
    }
  }

  return function compareVersions(v1, v2) {
    [v1, v2].forEach(validate);

    var s1 = split(v1);
    var s2 = split(v2);

    for (var i = 0; i < Math.max(s1.length - 1, s2.length - 1); i++) {
      var n1 = parseInt(s1[i] || 0, 10);
      var n2 = parseInt(s2[i] || 0, 10);

      if (n1 > n2) return 1;
      if (n2 > n1) return -1;
    }

    var sp1 = s1[s1.length - 1];

View on GitHub (pinned to 8eca2820f3)

Solutions

1. Normalize the version string before comparing (strip 'v' prefix, pad missing segments)
2. Validate the format against a semver regex before passing it to the comparison utility
3. Reject or log invalid versions at the input boundary instead of letting the utility throw

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at modules/ui/ui/vendor.js:91736 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of bettercap/bettercap@8eca2820f3 (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b7f2f2db7bef6a0d. Report an issue: GitHub.