jackwener/OpenCLI · error · ArgumentError

channel required

Error message

channel required

What it means

message-read.js requires a `channel` argument identifying which channel's messages to read. If the kwarg is missing or an empty/whitespace string after trimming, it throws ArgumentError('channel required').

Source

Thrown at clis/slock/message-read.js:45

  name: 'message-read',
  access: 'read',
  description: 'Read messages in a channel or thread. Thread form: "#channel:msgIdOrShort". Use --after seq|UUID for cursor.',
  domain: SLOCK_DOMAIN,
  strategy: Strategy.COOKIE,
  browser: true,
  siteSession: 'persistent',
  args: [
    { name: 'channel', positional: true, required: true, help: 'channelId UUID, "#name", or "#channel:msgIdOrShort"' },
    { name: 'after', help: 'Cursor: seq number or messageId UUID (exclusive)' },
    { name: 'before', help: 'seq to page before' },
    { name: 'limit', type: 'int', default: 50, help: 'Max messages' },
    { name: 'no-threads', type: 'bool', default: false, help: 'Skip /threads enrichment' },
    { name: 'server', help: 'Override active server' },
  ],
  columns: ['id', 'seq', 'createdAt', 'senderName', 'content', 'threadChannelId', 'replyCount', 'unreadCount', 'lastReplyAt'],
  func: async (page, kwargs) => {
    const channel = String(kwargs.channel ?? '').trim();
    if (!channel) throw new ArgumentError('channel required');
    const tt = classifyThreadTarget(channel);
    const isUuid = UUID_RE.test(channel);
    const after = kwargs.after !== undefined ? String(kwargs.after) : '';
    if (after && !/^\d+$/.test(after) && !UUID_RE.test(after)) {
      throw new ArgumentError(`--after must be a seq number or messageId UUID (got "${after}")`);
    }
    const limit = parsePositiveInteger(kwargs.limit, '--limit', { defaultValue: 50 });
    const before = kwargs.before !== undefined ? String(kwargs.before) : '';
    if (before && !/^\d+$/.test(before)) {
      throw new ArgumentError(`--before must be a seq number (got "${before}")`);
    }
    if (before) parsePositiveInteger(before, '--before');
    const noThreads = !!kwargs['no-threads'];
    // R1 — pass the raw override through to authHeadersFragment; it owns the
    // UUID-vs-slug resolution against /servers/ now.
    const override = kwargs.server ?? null;

    await page.goto(SLOCK_HOME_URL);

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

1. Pass the channel: e.g. `--channel #general` or the channel UUID.
2. Check the value sourcing the flag is defined and non-empty (env var, previous command output).
3. Run the command's help to confirm the exact flag name.

Example fix

// before
await run('message-read', {});
// after
await run('message-read', { channel: '#general' });

if (!kwargs.channel || !String(kwargs.channel).trim()) throw new Error('message-read: --channel is required');

const channel = typeof kwargs.channel === 'string' && kwargs.channel.trim() ? kwargs.channel.trim() : null;
if (!channel) throw new Error('channel required');

try { await readMessages(page, kwargs); } catch (e) { if (e instanceof ArgumentError && e.message === 'channel required') { console.error('Usage: message-read --channel <#slug|uuid>'); } else throw e; }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling the message-read command without `--channel`, or with `--channel ""` / only whitespace.

Common situations: Forgetting the flag in a scripted invocation; passing a variable that is undefined/null; copy-pasting a command and dropping the channel 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.

Related errors

• symbol is required
• Either --product-id or --url is required
• --city is required (numeric city ID from `ctrip search` or `
• --${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/6975334f94b7954d. Report an issue: GitHub.