hashicorp/vagrant · error · Vagrant::Errors::CLIInvalidUsage

This command was not invoked properly. The help for this com

Error message

This command was not invoked properly. The help for this command is
available below.

%{help}

What it means

Raised by `vagrant cloud auth login` when any positional argument is present after flag parsing (`!argv.empty?`). Login is driven entirely by flags (-u/--username, -t/--token, --check), so leftover words are invalid usage and the OptionParser help is embedded.

Source

Thrown at plugins/commands/cloud/auth/login.rb:41

              end
              o.on("-d", "--description DESCRIPTION", String, "Set description for the Vagrant Cloud token") do |d|
                options[:description] = d
              end

              o.on("-t", "--token TOKEN", String, "Set the Vagrant Cloud token") do |t|
                options[:token] = t
              end

              o.on("-u", "--username USERNAME_OR_EMAIL", String, "Vagrant Cloud username or email address") do |l|
                options[:login] = l
              end
            end

            # Parse the options
            argv = parse_options(opts)
            return if !argv
            if !argv.empty?
              raise Vagrant::Errors::CLIInvalidUsage,
                help: opts.help.chomp
            end

            client = Client.new(@env)
            client.username_or_email = options[:login]

            # Determine what task we're actually taking based on flags
            if options[:check]
              return execute_check(client)
            elsif options[:token]
              return execute_token(client, options[:token])
            else
              if client.logged_in?
                @env.ui.success(I18n.t("cloud_command.check_logged_in"))
              else
                client_login(@env, options.slice(:login, :description))
              end
            end

View on GitHub (pinned to 35f3160f4a)

Solutions

Pass the username with the flag: `vagrant cloud auth login -u myuser`
Or use a token: `vagrant cloud auth login --token <token>`
Run `vagrant cloud auth login --help` for all flag forms

Example fix

# before
vagrant cloud auth login myuser

# after
vagrant cloud auth login -u myuser

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

# bash: login takes flags only - reject stray positional args
[ $# -eq 0 ] || { vagrant cloud auth login --help; exit 1; }
vagrant cloud auth login -u "$CLOUD_USER"

Prevention

Pass credentials via flags (-u) or VAGRANT_CLOUD_TOKEN, never positionally
Prefer token-based auth in CI: export VAGRANT_CLOUD_TOKEN=...
Check --help when a command rejects arguments you assumed were positional

When it happens

Trigger: `vagrant cloud auth login myuser@example.com` - passing the username as a word instead of the -u flag; any extra positional argument.

Common situations: Assuming credential-style commands take positional arguments; migrating from older/other CLI conventions where login takes the user as an argument.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/vagrant@35f3160f4a (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f89a9a11bc96cb88. Report an issue: GitHub.