jackwener/OpenCLI · error · ArgumentError

dblp ${label} must be a positive integer

Error message

dblp ${label} must be a positive integer

What it means

Thrown by requireBoundedInt when the provided value (or its default) does not coerce to a positive integer via coerceInt. It is an ArgumentError — a caller-input validation failure, not a network problem.

Source

Thrown at clis/dblp/utils.js:96

    return body;
}

export async function dblpFetchXml(path, label) {
    const res = await dblpFetch(`${DBLP_ORIGIN}${path}`, label, 'application/xml');
    return res.text();
}

export function coerceInt(value) {
    if (value === undefined || value === null || value === '') return NaN;
    const n = typeof value === 'number' ? value : Number(value);
    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) {

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

1. Pass a positive whole number, e.g. --limit 20
2. Check the shell variable feeding the flag is set and numeric
3. Remember the default (e.g. 20) applies when the flag is omitted — omit it if unsure
4. Check the upper bound too (must be <= maxValue, e.g. 100)

Example fix

// before
node cli.js dblp search --limit abc
// after
node cli.js dblp search --limit 20

function parseLimit(raw, def = 20) {
  if (raw === undefined || raw === null || raw === '') return def;
  const n = Number(raw);
  if (!Number.isInteger(n) || n <= 0) throw new Error(`--limit must be a positive integer, got "${raw}"`);
  return n;
}

function isPositiveInt(v) { return typeof v === 'number' && Number.isInteger(v) && v > 0; }

try {
  runDblpSearch(args);
} catch (err) {
  if (/must be a positive integer/.test(err.message)) {
    console.error('Usage: dblp search --limit <positive integer, max 100>');
    process.exitCode = 2;
  } else throw err;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling a dblp command with a --limit (or similar) that is 0, negative, non-numeric, a float, or an empty string, e.g. --limit abc, --limit 0, --limit 2.5.

Common situations: Typos in CLI flags (--limt passing wrong value); scripting with unquoted/unset shell variables that resolve to empty strings; passing strings with whitespace or units like '50 items'.

Understand the failure class

Background: Invalid argument type errors: "must be of type string", "expected X, got Y", and ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE explained — this error's family across 15 libraries.

Related errors

• dblp ${label} cannot be empty
• 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/39e83f7f647343dd. Report an issue: GitHub.