iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI · error · CliException

invalid_value

invalid_value

Error message

--compact is a plain-text line format; drop --json (or drop --compact for the JSON tree).

What it means

Thrown by the `query` command when both --compact and --json are supplied. --compact emits a plain-text, one-line-per-match tabular format incompatible with the JSON tree shape; the guard at line 192-193 rejects the combination with code `invalid_value` rather than producing ambiguous output.

Source

Thrown at src/officecli/CommandBuilder.GetQuery.cs:193

        var queryFieldsOpt = new Option<string?>("--fields") { Description = "Comma-separated Format keys appended as extra k=v columns in --compact output (e.g. x,y,width)" };

        var queryCommand = new Command("query", "Query document elements with CSS-like selectors");
        queryCommand.Add(queryFileArg);
        queryCommand.Add(selectorArg);
        queryCommand.Add(jsonOption);
        queryCommand.Add(queryFindOpt);
        queryCommand.Add(queryCompactOpt);
        queryCommand.Add(queryFieldsOpt);

        queryCommand.SetAction(result => { var json = result.GetValue(jsonOption); return SafeRun(() =>
        {
            var file = result.GetValue(queryFileArg)!;
            var selector = MsysPathHint.Restore(result.GetValue(selectorArg)!)!;
            var textFilter = result.GetValue(queryFindOpt);
            var compact = result.GetValue(queryCompactOpt);
            var fields = result.GetValue(queryFieldsOpt);
            if (compact && json)
                throw new OfficeCli.Core.CliException("--compact is a plain-text line format; drop --json (or drop --compact for the JSON tree).") { Code = "invalid_value" };

            if (TryResident(file.FullName, req =>
            {
                req.Command = "query";
                req.Json = json;
                req.Args["selector"] = selector;
                if (textFilter != null) req.Args["find"] = textFilter;
                if (compact) req.Args["compact"] = "true";
                if (fields != null) req.Args["fields"] = fields;
            }, json) is {} rc) return rc;

            var format = json ? OutputFormat.Json : OutputFormat.Text;

            using var handler = DocumentHandlerFactory.Open(file.FullName);
            // CONSISTENCY(cell-selector-alias): the Excel cell selector accepts short
            // aliases (bold -> font.bold, size -> font.size, ...). FilterSelector
            // applies the same normalization, runs the boolean and/or engine, and
            // routes a pure-AND (flat) selector through the exact legacy path.

View on GitHub (pinned to 1ced45e900)

Solutions

1. For machine-readable output, drop --compact and keep --json (returns the JSON tree).
2. For compact tabular output, drop --json and keep --compact (plain text lines).
3. Pick one output mode per invocation.

Example fix

# before
officecli query file.docx 'p' --compact --json

# after
officecli query file.docx 'p' --json

// Enforce mutual exclusivity of --compact and --json before invoking query.
if (compact && json) throw new ArgumentException("use --compact OR --json, not both");

// Guard: exactly one output mode for query.
static bool SingleQueryMode(bool compact, bool json) => !(compact && json);

When it happens

Trigger: `officecli query file.docx 'p' --compact --json`. compact && json is true triggers the throw.

Common situations: A script shares a flags object between query and get and inherits both; a user wants machine-readable output and adds --json on top of --compact; an agent stacks output-format flags assuming they compose.

Related errors

• invalid_argument
• batch: --commands and --input are mutually exclusive. Pick o
• invalid_format
• ${r.stderr || r.stdout}
• missing_argument

AI-assisted analysis of iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI@1ced45e900 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4b5b9b6a888f8098. Report an issue: GitHub.