jackwener/OpenCLI · error · ArgumentError

--${name} is required (3-letter IATA code, e.g. LON, NYC)

Error message

--${name} is required (3-letter IATA code, e.g. LON, NYC)

What it means

ArgumentError thrown by parseIataCode when the named CLI flag is missing, null, or an empty string. The library requires a proper 3-letter IATA airport/city code (like LON or NYC) for the given option, and refuses to run with it absent.

Source

Thrown at clis/trip/utils.js:19

/**
 * Shared helpers for the Trip.com (international) adapter.
 *
 * Trip.com is the English-facing sibling of Ctrip; its search pages render
 * results client-side, so the browser-mode commands read the rendered DOM.
 * Flight rows are `.result-item` cards keyed by stable `data-testid` anchors
 * (`flights-name`, `stopInfoText`, `flight_price_*`).
 */
import { ArgumentError, CommandExecutionError } from '@jackwener/opencli/errors';

const MIN_LIMIT = 1;
const MAX_LIMIT = 50;
const ISO_DATE_RE = /^(\d{4})-(\d{2})-(\d{2})$/;
const POI_SEARCH_ENDPOINT = 'https://www.trip.com/restapi/soa2/14427/poiSearch';
const PACKAGE_SEARCH_ENDPOINT = 'https://www.trip.com/restapi/soa2/19866/FlightSelectSearch';

export function parseIataCode(name, raw) {
    if (raw === undefined || raw === null || raw === '') {
        throw new ArgumentError(`--${name} is required (3-letter IATA code, e.g. LON, NYC)`);
    }
    const value = String(raw).trim().toUpperCase();
    if (!/^[A-Z]{3}$/.test(value)) {
        throw new ArgumentError(`--${name} must be a 3-letter IATA code, got ${JSON.stringify(raw)}`);
    }
    return value;
}

export function parseIsoDate(name, raw) {
    if (raw === undefined || raw === null || raw === '') {
        throw new ArgumentError(`--${name} is required (YYYY-MM-DD)`);
    }
    const value = String(raw).trim();
    const m = ISO_DATE_RE.exec(value);
    if (!m) {
        throw new ArgumentError(`--${name} must be YYYY-MM-DD, got ${JSON.stringify(raw)}`);
    }
    const year = Number(m[1]);

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

1. Supply the missing flag with a 3-letter IATA code (e.g. --airport LHR)
2. Trim/normalize the value — the function uppercases, but the input must be exactly 3 letters
3. If the value may be absent, validate in your wrapper before invoking
4. Check shell variables aren't expanding to empty strings

Example fix

// before
await tripFlightSearch({ date: '2026-09-01' }); // missing from-code
// after
await tripFlightSearch({ date: '2026-09-01', fromCode: 'LON', toCode: 'NYC' });

function requireIata(name, value) {
  if (value === undefined || value === null || value === '') {
    throw new Error(`--${name} is required (3-letter IATA code)`);
  }
  const v = String(value).trim().toUpperCase();
  if (!/^[A-Z]{3}$/.test(v)) throw new Error(`--${name} must be a 3-letter IATA code, got ${value}`);
  return v;
}
// call before invoking the command
requireIata('airport', process.env.TRIP_AIRPORT);

function isIataCode(v) {
  return typeof v === 'string' && /^[A-Za-z]{3}$/.test(v);
}

try {
  const rows = await tripTransferSearch(kwargs);
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof ArgumentError && e.message.includes('is required')) {
    console.error(e.message);
    process.exit(1); // usage error, not retryable
  }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling a trip command that requires --from-code/--to-code/--airport (via fromCode, toCode, or airport callers) without supplying the flag, or passing '' explicitly; also fired when a value is supplied but fails the /^[A-Z]{3}$/ check, producing the sibling message.

Common situations: Forgetting the flag in scripts/CI; passing a lowercase or 2-letter code; passing a full airport name instead of the IATA code; shell variable interpolating to empty string.

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

• symbol is required
• Either --product-id or --url is required
• --city is required (numeric city ID from `ctrip search` or `
• --${name} is required (e.g. 北京 / 上海)
• hotel id is required (numeric id from `ctrip hotel-suggest`,

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/de06d87555075e20. Report an issue: GitHub.