clockworklabs/SpacetimeDB · error · anyhow::Error

Too many positional arguments for interactive mode. Usage: s

Error message

Too many positional arguments for interactive mode.
Usage: spacetime sql [database] --interactive [--no-config]

What it means

In `spacetime sql --interactive`, the CLI first collects all positional `sql_parts`. Interactive mode only accepts at most one positional (the database name); the REPL supplies the queries. If more than one positional was passed, it bails with this usage message before resolving the database or opening the REPL.

Source

Thrown at crates/cli/src/subcommands/sql.rs:231

    )?;

    Ok((stats, table))
}

pub async fn exec(config: Config, args: &ArgMatches) -> Result<(), anyhow::Error> {
    eprintln!("{UNSTABLE_WARNING}\n");
    let interactive = args.get_one::<bool>("interactive").unwrap_or(&false);
    let no_config = args.get_flag("no_config");
    let format = *args.get_one::<Format>("format").unwrap();
    let raw_parts: Vec<String> = args
        .get_many::<String>("sql_parts")
        .map(|vals| vals.cloned().collect())
        .unwrap_or_default();
    let config_targets = load_config_db_targets(no_config)?;

    if *interactive {
        if raw_parts.len() > 1 {
            anyhow::bail!(
                "Too many positional arguments for interactive mode.\nUsage: spacetime sql [database] --interactive [--no-config]"
            );
        }
        let resolved = resolve_database_arg(
            raw_parts.first().map(|s| s.as_str()),
            config_targets.as_deref(),
            "spacetime sql [database] --interactive [--no-config]",
        )?;
        let con = parse_req(config, args, &resolved.database, resolved.server.as_deref()).await?;

        crate::repl::exec(con, format).await?;
    } else {
        let resolved = resolve_optional_database_parts(
            &raw_parts,
            config_targets.as_deref(),
            "query",
            "spacetime sql [database] <query> [--no-config]",
        )

View on GitHub (pinned to 524b4487d9)

Solutions

1. Drop the query argument: `spacetime sql mydb --interactive`, then type SQL in the REPL
2. Pass at most one positional (the database); put everything else in the REPL
3. For one-shot queries, remove `--interactive` entirely and keep the quoted SQL argument

Example fix

# before
spacetime sql mydb "SELECT 1" --interactive
# after
spacetime sql mydb --interactive   -- then: SELECT 1; inside the REPL

# Reject multi-positional invocations before running
[ $# -le 2 ] || { echo 'interactive sql takes at most one positional (database)'; exit 2; }

When it happens

Trigger: Running e.g. `spacetime sql mydb "SELECT * FROM t" --interactive` — two positionals — or pasting a full query plus a database name while the interactive flag is set.

Common situations: Copy-pasting a one-shot sql command and appending `--interactive` without dropping the query argument; shell scripts concatenating arguments; misunderstanding that in interactive mode all SQL is typed inside the REPL.

Related errors

• Cannot semijoin a table to itself
• Cannot continue without a module path.
• Multiple databases found in config: {}. Please specify which
• Estimated cardinality ({estimate} rows) exceeds limit ({limi
• no such module

AI-assisted analysis of clockworklabs/SpacetimeDB@524b4487d9 (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ab9309fea7dc1cf4. Report an issue: GitHub.