git-ecosystem/git-credential-manager · error · Trace2InvalidOperationException

Missing 'password' request argument

Error message

Missing 'password' request argument

What it means

StoreCommand.EnsureMinimumRequest requires a 'password' argument when storing credentials. As with username, only null (not provided) is rejected — an empty string is a valid value. Without a password/secret there is nothing to store.

Solutions

1. Add a `password=<secret>` line (PAT/OAuth token) to the credential input before invoking store.
2. In code, set request.Password explicitly (empty string allowed, null is not).
3. If the credential truly has no secret, pass `password=` with an empty value instead of omitting the line.
4. Verify the token-producing step (e.g. OAuth flow) succeeded and emitted the secret.

Example fix

// before (programmatic store request missing password)
var request = new GitRequest { Protocol = "https", Host = "github.com", UserName = "octocat" };

// after
var request = new GitRequest { Protocol = "https", Host = "github.com", UserName = "octocat", Password = "ghp_..." };

if (request.Password is null)
    throw new ArgumentException("password is required for store (empty string is allowed)");

bool HasPassword(GitRequest r) => r.Password is not null;

try
{
    await storeCommand.ExecuteAsync(input);
}
catch (InvalidOperationException ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("'password'"))
{
    // ensure the token-generation step produced a secret, then retry
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling the store command where the credential input lacks a `password=` line, so request.Password is null after base and username validation passed.

Common situations: CI scripts that pipe only account/URL data; token-generation failures upstream that drop the password field; manual store invocations for testing; integrations that erase/patch credential records with partial data.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• Missing 'username' request argument
• Missing 'protocol' request argument
• Missing 'host' request argument
• Invalid 'protocol' request argument (cannot be empty)
• Invalid 'host' request argument (cannot be empty)

AI-assisted analysis of git-ecosystem/git-credential-manager@e8ce762cd0 (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3e735853a97936bb. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/Core/Commands/StoreCommand.cs:34

        protected override Task ExecuteInternalAsync(GitRequest request, IHostProvider provider)
        {
            return provider.StoreCredentialAsync(request);
        }

        protected override void EnsureMinimumRequest(GitRequest request)
        {
            base.EnsureMinimumRequest(request);

            // An empty string username/password are valid inputs, so only check for `null` (not provided)
            if (request.UserName is null)
            {
                throw new Trace2InvalidOperationException(Context.Trace2, "Missing 'username' request argument");
            }

            if (request.Password is null)
            {
                throw new Trace2InvalidOperationException(Context.Trace2, "Missing 'password' request argument");
            }
        }
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to e8ce762cd0)