jackwener/OpenCLI · error · ArgumentError

dblp ${label} cannot be empty

Error message

dblp ${label} cannot be empty

What it means

Thrown by requireQuery when the query argument is missing, empty, or only whitespace. A dblp search (publications, venues, author names) needs a non-empty query string.

Source

Thrown at clis/dblp/utils.js:107

    return Number.isFinite(n) && Number.isInteger(n) ? n : NaN;
}

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

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

export function requireRecordKey(value) {
    const key = String(value ?? '').trim();
    if (!key) {
        throw new ArgumentError('dblp paper key is required');
    }
    if (!KEY_PATTERN.test(key)) {
        throw new ArgumentError(`dblp paper key "${value}" is not a valid record key`, 'Expected something like "conf/nips/VaswaniSPUJGKP17" — copy the `key` column from `dblp search`.');
    }
    return key;
}

/** Decode the small set of XML entities dblp emits in record bodies. */
export function decodeXmlEntities(text) {
    if (!text) return '';

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

1. Provide a non-empty search term, e.g. dblp search "vector databases"
2. Check that any shell variable holding the query is set and non-empty
3. Quote the query so spaces survive shell word-splitting
4. Trim input in scripts before passing it

Example fix

// before
const query = process.env.Q; // undefined
runSearch(query);
// after
const query = process.env.Q ?? '';
if (query.trim()) runSearch(query.trim());
else console.error('Set Q to a non-empty search term');

const query = (process.argv[3] ?? '').trim();
if (!query) {
  console.error('Usage: dblp search "<query>"');
  process.exit(2);
}

function isNonEmptyString(v) { return typeof v === 'string' && v.trim().length > 0; }

try {
  const rows = await dblpVenueSearch(rawQuery);
} catch (err) {
  if (/cannot be empty/.test(err.message)) {
    console.error('Provide a non-empty search term, e.g. dblp venue "NeurIPS"');
    process.exitCode = 2;
  } else throw err;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running a dblp search/venue/author command without the positional query, with '' or only spaces, or with a shell variable that expanded to empty.

Common situations: Forgetting the search term on the CLI; unset environment/shell variables (q="$MY_QUERY" with MY_QUERY empty); copying a command template without filling in the query.

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

• dblp ${label} must be a positive integer
• dblp paper key is required
• ${label} is required
• ${label} must be a positive integer
• ${label} must be <= ${maxValue}

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bca649bbb0a8c923. Report an issue: GitHub.