block/buzz · error

invalid --channel UUID: {e}

Error message

invalid --channel UUID: {e}

What it means

reconcile_channels() passes the --channel argument to uuid::Uuid::parse_str and it failed. The channel selector must be a canonical UUID (hyphenated 36-char form, e.g. 6f9c0d34-…, or the unhyphenated 32-hex form). Passing a channel name ('general'), a Nostr event id (64-hex), a slug, or a mistyped UUID triggers this; the uuid crate's parse error is appended as {e}.

Source

Thrown at crates/buzz-admin/src/main.rs:514

        }
        None => {
            let k = Keys::generate();
            eprintln!(
                "Warning: no relay key provided — using ephemeral key {}",
                k.public_key().to_hex()
            );
            eprintln!("Events signed with this key won't be verifiable after this run.");
            eprintln!("Pass --relay-key or set BUZZ_RELAY_PRIVATE_KEY for production use.");
            k
        }
    };

    let tenant = resolve_admin_tenant(&db).await?;
    let target_channel = channel_arg
        .as_deref()
        .map(uuid::Uuid::parse_str)
        .transpose()
        .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("invalid --channel UUID: {e}"))?;
    let channels = if let Some(target) = target_channel {
        vec![db
            .get_channel(tenant.community(), target)
            .await
            .map_err(|_| {
                anyhow::anyhow!("channel {target} not found in community {}", tenant.host())
            })?]
    } else {
        db.list_channels(tenant.community(), None).await?
    };
    if channels.is_empty() {
        println!("No channels in database.");
        return Ok(());
    }

    let mut reconciled = 0u32;
    let mut skipped = 0u32;

View on GitHub (pinned to f956e6fe06)

Solutions

1. Get the channel's UUID first: `buzz-admin` channel listing / `buzz channels list` output, or `SELECT id, name FROM channels;` in the community's database.
2. Pass the hyphenated UUID exactly: `--channel 6f9c0d34-1b2e-4c7a-9d3f-2a1b3c4d5e6f` — verify it is 36 chars with 4 hyphens.
3. If your id has no hyphens (32 hex chars), that form is accepted too; anything else (names, event ids) is not.

Example fix

# before
buzz-admin reconcile-channels --channel general
# error: invalid --channel UUID: ...

# after
buzz-admin reconcile-channels --channel 6f9c0d34-1b2e-4c7a-9d3f-2a1b3c4d5e6f

// JS/TS wrapper before shelling out
const UUID_RE = /^[0-9a-f]{8}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{12}$/i;
if (!UUID_RE.test(channelArg)) throw new Error(`--channel must be a UUID, got: ${channelArg}`);

function isChannelUuid(v: string): boolean {
  return /^[0-9a-f]{8}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{12}$/i.test(v);
}

When it happens

Trigger: `buzz-admin reconcile-channels --channel general` (name instead of UUID), `--channel <64-hex nostr event id>`, a UUID with an extra character, or one copied with smart-quotes/whitespace from a chat message.

Common situations: Operators assume the CLI takes channel names because the UI shows names; copying the wrong identifier out of a deep link or event JSON; locale-mangled dashes (en-dash instead of hyphen) from formatted docs.

Related errors

• --channel requires --relay-key or BUZZ_RELAY_PRIVATE_KEY
• invalid relay key: {e}
• --host must not be empty
• missing or invalid h tag
• BUZZ_RELAY_PRIVATE_KEY is required for add-member/remove-mem

AI-assisted analysis of block/buzz@f956e6fe06 (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/74eda9fff16a163c. Report an issue: GitHub.