Cannot use generate-entry-specific arguments ({}) when gener

Error message

Cannot use generate-entry-specific arguments ({}) when generating for multiple entries. Specify a database name to select a single target, or remove these arguments.

What it means

The generate command's counterpart of the module-arg guard: when generating for multiple entries (entry_count > 1), CLI flags flagged generate_entry_specific are rejected because they could only apply to one entry. The message offers the two escapes: select a single entry by database name, or drop the flags and configure the entries in the config file.

Source

Thrown at crates/cli/src/spacetime_config.rs:549

    }

    /// Validate that generate-entry-specific CLI flags are not used when operating on multiple generate entries.
    pub fn validate_no_generate_entry_specific_cli_args(
        &self,
        command: &Command,
        matches: &ArgMatches,
        entry_count: usize,
    ) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
        if entry_count <= 1 {
            return Ok(());
        }

        let display_args = self.generate_entry_specific_cli_flags(command, matches);
        if display_args.is_empty() {
            return Ok(());
        }

        anyhow::bail!(
            "Cannot use generate-entry-specific arguments ({}) when generating for multiple entries. \
             Specify a database name to select a single target, or remove these arguments.",
            display_args.join(", "),
        );
    }

    /// Get the clap argument name for a config key.
    pub fn clap_arg_name_for<'a>(&'a self, config_name: &'a str) -> &'a str {
        self.config_to_clap
            .get(config_name)
            .map(|s| s.as_str())
            .unwrap_or(config_name)
    }
}

/// Configuration for a single key in the CommandConfig.
#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
pub struct Key {

View on GitHub (pinned to 524b4487d9)

Solutions

Pass the database name to generate for exactly one entry
Drop the entry-specific flags for multi-entry generation
Encode per-entry options in the spacetime.json generate entries so the CLI stays generic

Example fix

# before (multiple generate entries in config)
spacetime generate --out-dir src/generated

# after
spacetime generate --database mydb --out-dir src/generated

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

# In codegen scripts, require a database selector once the config has multiple entries
ENTRY_COUNT=$(jq '[.databases[]? | select(.generate)] | length // (.generate_entries // [] | length)' spacetime.json 2>/dev/null || echo 0)
if [ "$ENTRY_COUNT" -gt 1 ] && [ -z "$DB" ]; then
  echo 'pass --database when generating for multiple entries' >&2; exit 2
fi
spacetime generate ${DB:+--database "$DB"}

Try / catch

if ! spacetime generate $FLAGS; then
  # if stderr contains 'generate-entry-specific arguments', retry without entry flags or with --database
  spacetime generate --database "$DB"
fi

Prevention

Treat `spacetime generate` as per-entry: always pass --database in projects with more than one generate entry
Keep entry-specific output options inside each spacetime.json generate entry instead of on the command line

When it happens

Trigger: `spacetime generate` in a project whose config declares multiple generate entries, while passing entry-specific CLI options (collected via generate_entry_specific_cli_flags), without a --database selector.

Common situations: Adding a second client/database to a project and reusing the previous generate invocation; CI codegen steps that pinned output options per entry via flags.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of clockworklabs/SpacetimeDB@524b4487d9 (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/99b0c0657598a71a. Report an issue: GitHub.