can1357/oh-my-pi · error · CliError

Error: ${message}

Error message

Error: ${message}

What it means

fail() is the mnemopi CLI's error helper: it wraps a message in a CliError with prefix "Error: " and default exit code 2. It is used by argument parsers (parseIntArg/parseFloatArg) and commands (import, update, delete, scratchpad) to abort on invalid user input.

Source

Thrown at packages/mnemopi/src/cli.ts:46

		readonly exitCode = 2,
	) {
		super(message);
		this.name = "CliError";
	}
}

type CommandHandler = (args: readonly string[], context?: CliContext) => number | Promise<number>;

function out(context: CliContext | undefined, text = ""): void {
	(context?.stdout ?? Bun.stdout).write(`${text}\n`);
}

function err(context: CliContext | undefined, text = ""): void {
	(context?.stderr ?? Bun.stderr).write(`${text}\n`);
}

function fail(message: string, exitCode = 2): never {
	throw new CliError(`Error: ${message}`, exitCode);
}

function usage(message: string): never {
	throw new CliError(message, 2);
}

function parseFloatArg(value: string, name: string): number {
	const parsed = Number(value);
	if (!Number.isFinite(parsed)) fail(`${name} must be a number: ${value}`);
	return parsed;
}

function parseIntArg(value: string, name: string): number {
	if (!/^[+-]?\d+$/.test(value)) fail(`${name} must be an integer: ${value}`);
	const parsed = Number(value);
	if (!Number.isSafeInteger(parsed)) fail(`${name} must be an integer: ${value}`);
	return parsed;
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 9690622007)

Solutions

1. Read the message after 'Error: ' — it names the invalid argument or missing id
2. For id errors, list memories first (e.g. via the appropriate list/search command) to get a valid id
3. For numeric errors, pass a valid number matching the expected type (integer vs float)
4. Run the command with usage/help output to confirm required argument order

Example fix

// before
$ mnemopi delete abc
Error: invalid memory id: abc
// after
$ mnemopi delete 42

const id = process.argv[3];
if (!/^\d+$/.test(id)) {
  process.stderr.write(`Error: invalid memory id: ${id}\n`);
  process.exit(2);
}

import { CliError } from "@oh-my-pi/metaharness/mnemopi";
try {
  await cli.run(process.argv);
} catch (err) {
  if (err instanceof CliError) {
    process.stderr.write(`${err.message}\n`);
    process.exit(err.exitCode ?? 2);
  }
  throw err;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Invoking mnemopi CLI subcommands with invalid arguments — non-numeric values where parseIntArg/parseFloatArg expect numbers, unknown ids for update/delete, or missing/invalid scratchpad arguments.

Common situations: Typo'd or deleted memory id passed to `mnemopi update`/`delete`; passing a string like 'abc' or '1.5' to an integer flag; forgetting a required argument in scripts.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Unknown argument", "Invalid value", and "must be one of": invalid CLI argument errors explained — this error's family across 35 libraries.

Related errors

• unknown file type: {value}
• invalid size: {value}
• 2
• invalid --block-size argument '{0}'
• invalid --time-style argument {} Possible values are: - [p

AI-assisted analysis of can1357/oh-my-pi@9690622007 (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e81db1ddd5ed787f. Report an issue: GitHub.