jackwener/OpenCLI · error · ArgumentError

crates crate name "${value}" is not a valid crates.io name

Error message

crates crate name "${value}" is not a valid crates.io name

What it means

requireCrateName validates crate names against the crates.io naming rule: start with an ASCII letter, then 0-63 chars of letters/digits/underscore/hyphen (regex /^[A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9_-]{0,63}$/). Values failing this pattern throw this ArgumentError with a hint about the allowed format.

Source

Thrown at clis/crates/utils.js:20

import { ArgumentError, CommandExecutionError, EmptyResultError } from '@jackwener/opencli/errors';

export const CRATES_BASE = 'https://crates.io';
const UA = 'opencli-crates-adapter (+https://github.com/jackwener/opencli)';

// crates.io crate names: 1-64 chars, ascii letters/digits/-_, must start with a letter.
const CRATE_NAME = /^[A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9_-]{0,63}$/;

export function requireString(value, label) {
    const s = String(value ?? '').trim();
    if (!s) throw new ArgumentError(`crates ${label} cannot be empty`);
    return s;
}

export function requireCrateName(value) {
    const s = String(value ?? '').trim();
    if (!s) throw new ArgumentError('crates crate name is required (e.g. "serde", "tokio")');
    if (!CRATE_NAME.test(s)) {
        throw new ArgumentError(
            `crates crate name "${value}" is not a valid crates.io name`,
            'Names start with an ASCII letter, then 0-63 chars of letters / digits / "_-".',
        );
    }
    return s;
}

export function requireBoundedInt(value, defaultValue, maxValue, label = 'limit') {
    const raw = value ?? defaultValue;
    const n = typeof raw === 'number' ? raw : Number(raw);
    if (!Number.isInteger(n) || n <= 0) {
        throw new ArgumentError(`crates ${label} must be a positive integer`);
    }
    if (n > maxValue) {
        throw new ArgumentError(`crates ${label} must be <= ${maxValue}`);
    }
    return n;
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

1. Use only the bare crate name: letters/digits/_/- starting with a letter, max 64 chars.
2. Strip URL prefixes and version suffixes: extract the last path segment and remove any '@...' part.
3. Look the name up with `crates search` if unsure of the exact spelling.
4. Pre-validate with the same regex before calling the API.

Example fix

// before
await cli.crates.crate({ name: 'https://crates.io/crates/serde' });
// after
await cli.crates.crate({ name: 'serde' });

const CRATE_NAME = /^[A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9_-]{0,63}$/;
function sanitizeCrateName(input) {
  const s = String(input ?? '').trim();
  const bare = s.split('/').pop()?.split('@')[0] ?? ''; // strip URL path and @version
  if (!CRATE_NAME.test(bare)) throw new Error(`invalid crates.io name: ${input}`);
  return bare;
}

function isValidCrateName(v) {
  return typeof v === 'string' && /^[A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9_-]{0,63}$/.test(v);
}

try {
  await cli.crates.crate({ name });
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof ArgumentError && e.message.includes('not a valid crates.io name')) {
    console.error('Names: ASCII letter first, then letters/digits/_/- (max 64 chars). No URLs or @versions.');
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Passing a name that starts with a digit or symbol ('2fa'), contains illegal characters ('serde json', 'serde/json', 'serde@1'), exceeds 64 chars, is a full URL ('https://crates.io/crates/serde'), or includes a version suffix ('serde@1.0.0').

Common situations: Pasting a crates.io URL as the name, appending @version like in npm/cargo CLI habits, names with spaces from copy/paste, or internal package names that were never valid on crates.io.

Related errors

• crates ${label} cannot be empty
• crates crate name is required (e.g. "serde", "tokio")
• crates ${label} must be a positive integer
• crates ${label} must be <= ${maxValue}
• packagist package "${value}" must be "<vendor>/<package>"

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/59facf8f74a9d16d. Report an issue: GitHub.