jackwener/OpenCLI · error · ArgumentError

channel required

Error message

channel required

What it means

The slock inbox-done command requires a channel argument (channelId UUID or #name). Like channel-members, it throws ArgumentError when the positional --channel value is missing or blank. The fail-fast guard runs before page navigation and the POST to /channels/inbox/done.

Source

Thrown at clis/slock/inbox-done.js:24

import { SLOCK_SITE, SLOCK_DOMAIN, SLOCK_HOME_URL, SLOCK_API_BASE } from './shared.js';

cli({
  site: SLOCK_SITE,
  name: 'inbox-done',
  access: 'write',
  description: 'Mark one chat as done / clear it from the inbox (POST /channels/inbox/done)',
  domain: SLOCK_DOMAIN,
  strategy: Strategy.COOKIE,
  browser: true,
  siteSession: 'persistent',
  args: [
    { name: 'channel', positional: true, required: true, help: 'channelId UUID or #name' },
    { name: 'server', help: 'Override active server' },
  ],
  columns: ['channel', 'result'],
  func: async (page, kwargs) => {
    const channel = String(kwargs.channel ?? '').trim();
    if (!channel) throw new ArgumentError('channel required');
    await page.goto(SLOCK_HOME_URL);
    // channelId travels in the BODY (not the URL), so resolve then POST the fixed path.
    const snippet = `
      ${authHeadersFragment({ serverScoped: true, serverIdOverride: kwargs.server })}
      ${channelResolveFragment(channel)}
      const res = await fetch('${SLOCK_API_BASE}/channels/inbox/done', { method:'POST', credentials:'include', headers, body: JSON.stringify({ channelId }) });
      if (res.status === 401) return { kind: 'auth', detail: '/channels/inbox/done returned 401' };
      if (!res.ok) return { kind: 'http', status: res.status, where:'/channels/inbox/done' };
      const data = await res.json().catch(() => ({}));
      return { kind: 'ok', rows: data };
    `;
    const result = await page.evaluate(`(async () => { ${snippet} })()`);
    dispatchEvaluateResult(result);
    return [{ channel, result: 'done' }];
  },
});

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

1. Provide the channel: `opencli slock inbox-done '#general'` or with a UUID
2. Get a valid id via `opencli slock inbox` (the kind/id columns) before running inbox-done
3. Guard loop variables: skip or abort when the channel value is empty

Example fix

// before
opencli slock inbox-done
// after
opencli slock inbox-done '#general'

const channel = (process.argv[3] ?? '').trim();
if (!channel) { console.error('usage: opencli slock inbox-done <channelId|#name>'); process.exit(2); }

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

try { await runInboxDone(channel); } catch (e) { if (e instanceof ArgumentError) { console.error('Missing --channel:', e.message); process.exit(2); } throw e; }

When it happens

Trigger: Running `opencli slock inbox-done` with no positional channel, or with an empty value from an unset shell variable; note the channelId travels in the POST body, but it must still be supplied up front.

Common situations: Automating 'mark inbox done' across channels in a loop where one channel variable is empty; mistaking the command for one that marks everything done with no argument.

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.

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AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6097bae4d830e3e2. Report an issue: GitHub.