jackwener/OpenCLI · error · ArgumentError

${label} must be an integer between ${min} and ${max}, got $

Error message

${label} must be an integer between ${min} and ${max}, got ${JSON.stringify(value)}

What it means

requireBoundedInt throws this ArgumentError when a CLI option must be an integer within [min, max] but the value is missing, non-numeric, non-integer, or out of range. Here it guards --answers-limit and --comments-limit against the Stack Exchange max page size (100). Values are string-coerced first so '--limit 5' arriving as '5' still validates.

Source

Thrown at clis/stackoverflow/read.js:90

 */
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;
}

function requireMinInt(value, min, label) {
    const n = coerceInt(value);
    if (!Number.isInteger(n) || n < min) {
        throw new ArgumentError(`${label} must be an integer >= ${min}, got ${JSON.stringify(value)}`);
    }
    return n;
}

function requireBoundedInt(value, min, max, label) {
    const n = coerceInt(value);
    if (!Number.isInteger(n) || n < min || n > max) {
        throw new ArgumentError(`${label} must be an integer between ${min} and ${max}, got ${JSON.stringify(value)}`);
    }
    return n;
}

function byAcceptedThenScoreDesc(question, answers) {
    const acceptedAnswerId = question.accepted_answer_id;
    return answers
        .slice()
        .sort((a, b) => {
            const aAccepted = a.is_accepted || (acceptedAnswerId && a.answer_id === acceptedAnswerId);
            const bAccepted = b.is_accepted || (acceptedAnswerId && b.answer_id === acceptedAnswerId);
            if (aAccepted !== bAccepted) return aAccepted ? -1 : 1;
            return (b.score ?? 0) - (a.score ?? 0);
        });
}

async function fetchMissingAcceptedAnswer(question, answers, label) {
    const acceptedAnswerId = question.accepted_answer_id;

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

Set the flag to an integer between 1 and 100 (SE_MAX_PAGE_SIZE), e.g. --answers-limit 10
If more than 100 answers are needed, rely on the CLI's paging limits or paginate manually via the API
Sanitize the value in wrapper scripts (parseInt and clamp) before invoking

Example fix

// before
stackoverflow read 79935770 --answers-limit 500
// after
stackoverflow read 79935770 --answers-limit 100

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const n = Number(value);
if (!Number.isInteger(n) || n < 1 || n > 100) throw new Error(`limit must be an integer between 1 and 100, got ${value}`);

Type guard

function isBoundedInt(value, min, max) {
  const n = Number(value);
  return Number.isInteger(n) && n >= min && n <= max;
}

Try / catch

try {
  await runCommand(['stackoverflow', 'read', id, '--answers-limit', String(limit)]);
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof ArgumentError && e.message.includes('must be an integer between')) {
    console.error('Use an integer between 1 and 100 for --answers-limit/--comments-limit');
  } else throw e;
}

Prevention

Cap limits at 100 (SE_MAX_PAGE_SIZE) — the API page size maximum
Default to 10 answers / 5 comments when in doubt
Guard against unset shell variables producing empty strings
Use Math.min(100, Math.max(1, n)) to clamp before invoking

When it happens

Trigger: `stackoverflow read` invoked with --answers-limit or --comments-limit set to 0, negative, above 100, a float like 2.5, or a non-numeric string; value also fails when unset/empty (NaN).

Common situations: Trying to fetch more answers than the API page size allows (e.g. --answers-limit 500); shell passing empty string for an omitted flag; scripts building the command with an unset variable; typo like --comments-limit five.

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/c5acbb8336e8df8c. Report an issue: GitHub.