jackwener/OpenCLI · error · ArgumentError

channel required

Error message

channel required

What it means

`channel-files` requires a target channel. The CLI trims the `channel` kwarg and throws ArgumentError('channel required') when it is missing or empty, before navigating or building the fetch snippet.

Source

Thrown at clis/slock/channel-files.js:26

cli({
  site: SLOCK_SITE,
  name: 'channel-files',
  access: 'read',
  description: 'List files shared in a channel (GET /channels/:id/files)',
  domain: SLOCK_DOMAIN,
  strategy: Strategy.COOKIE,
  browser: true,
  siteSession: 'persistent',
  args: [
    { name: 'channel', positional: true, required: true, help: 'channelId UUID or #name' },
    { name: 'limit', type: 'int', default: 50, help: 'Max files' },
    { name: 'server', help: 'Override active server' },
  ],
  columns: ['id', 'filename', 'mimeType', 'sizeBytes', 'messageId', 'createdAt'],
  func: async (page, kwargs) => {
    const channel = String(kwargs.channel ?? '').trim();
    if (!channel) throw new ArgumentError('channel required');
    const limit = parsePositiveInteger(kwargs.limit, '--limit', { defaultValue: 50 });
    await page.goto(SLOCK_HOME_URL);
    const snippet = buildChannelScopedSnippet({
      channelInput: channel,
      method: 'GET',
      pathSuffix: '/files',
      query: `?limit=${limit}`,
      serverIdOverride: kwargs.server,
    });
    const result = await page.evaluate(`(async () => { ${snippet} })()`);
    const data = dispatchEvaluateResult(result);
    const files = Array.isArray(data) ? data : (data.files || []);
    if (!Array.isArray(files)) {
      throw new CommandExecutionError(`expected files array, got ${typeof files} (contract drift?)`);
    }
    return files.map((f) => ({
      id: f.id ?? '',
      filename: f.filename ?? '',

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

1. Pass the channel: `slock channel-files --channel '#ops'` or the channelId UUID
2. Verify the variable feeding --channel is non-empty before invoking
3. Check the command's help (`slock channel-files --help`) for the expected flag

Example fix

// before
$ slock channel-files --limit 10
Error: channel required
// after
$ slock channel-files --channel '#ops' --limit 10

const channel = String(input.channel ?? '').trim();
if (!channel) throw new Error('channel must be provided (#name or channelId UUID)');

const hasChannel = (v) => typeof v === 'string' && v.trim().length > 0;

try {
  await run(['slock', 'channel-files', '--channel', channel]);
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof ArgumentError && e.message === 'channel required') {
    console.error('Pass --channel <#name|uuid>; the value was empty.');
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling `slock channel-files` without `--channel`, or with an empty/whitespace-only value.

Common situations: Scripting loops where the channel variable is unset for some iterations, forgetting the positional/flag in an alias, or a wrapper script that forwards kwargs incorrectly.

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

• symbol is required
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• --${name} is required (e.g. 北京 / 上海)
• hotel id is required (numeric id from `ctrip hotel-suggest`,

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/606df37147b2d877. Report an issue: GitHub.