jackwener/OpenCLI · error · ArgumentError

facebook search --limit must be an integer between 1 and ${M

Error message

facebook search --limit must be an integer between 1 and ${MAX_LIMIT}

What it means

ArgumentError thrown by requireLimit in clis/facebook/search.js when the --limit value is not an integer in the 1–MAX_LIMIT (50) range. The function coerces input with Number() and rejects NaN, non-integers, and out-of-range values before any network call. This is an input validation guard, so the error fires immediately and locally.

Source

Thrown at clis/facebook/search.js:10

import { ArgumentError, AuthRequiredError, CommandExecutionError, EmptyResultError } from '@jackwener/opencli/errors';
import { cli, Strategy } from '@jackwener/opencli/registry';

const FACEBOOK_HOME = 'https://www.facebook.com';
const MAX_LIMIT = 50;

function requireLimit(value) {
  const n = Number(value);
  if (!Number.isInteger(n) || n < 1 || n > MAX_LIMIT) {
    throw new ArgumentError(`facebook search --limit must be an integer between 1 and ${MAX_LIMIT}`);
  }
  return n;
}

function requireQuery(value) {
  const q = String(value ?? '').trim();
  if (!q) throw new ArgumentError('facebook search requires a non-empty query');
  return q;
}

function unwrapBrowserResult(value) {
  if (value && typeof value === 'object' && 'data' in value) return value.data;
  return value;
}

// Modern facebook.com /search/top renders results inside [role="feed"] as
// entity/content links (people, pages, groups, posts) — [role="article"] /
// [role="listitem"] no longer wrap them — and FB seeds scrambled hidden-char

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

Pass an integer between 1 and 50, e.g. --limit 20
Validate/coerce the value with Number(value) and Number.isInteger before calling
Clamp computed values: Math.min(50, Math.max(1, Math.round(n)))

Example fix

// before
cli.search({ limit: '100' });
// after
const n = Math.min(50, Math.max(1, Math.round(Number(rawLimit))));
cli.search({ limit: n });

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

function validLimit(v) {
  const n = Number(v);
  return Number.isInteger(n) && n >= 1 && n <= 50 ? n : null;
}
const limit = validLimit(rawLimit);
if (limit === null) throw new Error('--limit must be an integer between 1 and 50');

Type guard

function isAllowedLimit(v) {
  return typeof v === 'number' && Number.isInteger(v) && v >= 1 && v <= 50;
}

Try / catch

try {
  await cli.search({ query, limit });
} catch (err) {
  if (/must be an integer between 1 and/.test(err.message)) {
    console.error('Please pass --limit as an integer 1-50');
    process.exitCode = 2;
    return;
  }
  throw err;
}

Prevention

Always coerce and validate CLI args before calling search
Clamp computed limits to [1, 50] with Math.min/Math.max
Document the 50-result cap in your wrapper scripts

When it happens

Trigger: Calling facebook search with --limit 0, --limit 51, --limit abc, --limit 2.5, or an empty value that Number() coerces to NaN.

Common situations: Passing a string from CLI args without parsing; copy-pasting a limit above the 50 cap; scripting with a computed value that is a float or null; forgetting the flag so undefined becomes NaN.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Must be a positive integer", "Invalid value", "Unsupported": the invalid-argument-value error family, when a library rejects the value you pass — this error's family across 35 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/776e3928bbb830f1. Report an issue: GitHub.