jackwener/OpenCLI · error · CommandExecutionError

Google Scholar search returned an unexpected payload shape

Error message

Google Scholar search returned an unexpected payload shape

What it means

The `google-scholar search` command evaluates an in-page script that must return an object `{ items: [...], resultCount }`. This guard throws a CommandExecutionError when the evaluated wrapper is null, not an object, or its `items` is not an array — i.e. the browser evaluation itself failed rather than returning an empty result set.

Source

Thrown at clis/google-scholar/search.js:63

          const citedText = normalize(container.querySelector('.gs_fl a[href*="cites"]')?.textContent);
          const cited = citedText.match(/(\\d+)/)?.[1] || '0';

          results.push({
            rank: results.length + 1,
            title,
            authors: authors.slice(0, 80),
            source: source.slice(0, 60),
            year,
            cited,
            url,
          });
          if (results.length >= ${limit}) break;
        }
        return { items: results, resultCount: resultCards.length };
      })()
    `);
        if (!wrapper || typeof wrapper !== 'object' || !Array.isArray(wrapper.items)) {
            throw new CommandExecutionError('Google Scholar search returned an unexpected payload shape');
        }
        if (wrapper.items.length === 0) {
            if (Number(wrapper.resultCount) > 0) {
                throw new CommandExecutionError('Google Scholar result cards were present but no rows could be extracted');
            }
            throw new EmptyResultError('google-scholar/search', 'Try a different query or check whether Google Scholar returned a CAPTCHA.');
        }
        return wrapper.items;
    },
});

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

1. Re-run the command — transient browser/page-state failures usually succeed on retry.
2. Check the browser automation setup (headless browser installed, driver versions compatible).
3. If it reproduces on every query, inspect whether scholar.google.com is returning an error/CAPTCHA page that breaks the evaluate script, and update the command.
4. Catch CommandExecutionError and fall back to a different search backend.

Example fix

// before
const wrapper = null; // page.evaluate returned undefined -> throws
// after
if (!wrapper || typeof wrapper !== 'object' || !Array.isArray(wrapper.items)) {
  return []; // or retry the navigation before surfacing the error
}

const isSearchPayload = (w) => !!w && typeof w === 'object' && Array.isArray(w.items);

try {
  return await run('google-scholar search', query);
} catch (e) {
  if (/unexpected payload shape/.test(e.message)) {
    await sleep(2000); return await run('google-scholar search', query); // one retry
  }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling `google-scholar search <query>` where `page.evaluate` returns null/undefined or a non-object: the evaluate string failed to execute (script error, sandbox/CSP block), the browser page was torn down, or the driver returned an unexpected serialization.

Common situations: Browser crashed or tab navigated mid-evaluation; headless environment where `page.evaluate` on a template string is unsupported/misconfigured; CSP or page state preventing script execution; driver/automation-library version mismatch changing evaluate return semantics.

Related errors

• No profile found for: ${author}
• Could not load Google Scholar profile for: ${author}
• No papers found for: ${data.name || author}
• google images returned an unexpected page-state payload shap
• Barchart greeks returned an unreadable options payload

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/abff0622221352b3. Report an issue: GitHub.