jackwener/OpenCLI · error · ArgumentError

openalex work id "${value}" is not recognised

Error message

openalex work id "${value}" is not recognised

What it means

This is requireWorkRef's terminal rejection: the input matched none of the accepted forms (full OpenAlex URL, bare W-id, doi.org URL, or bare 10.x/yyy DOI), so an ArgumentError is thrown with a hint listing valid formats. It exists so malformed identifiers fail fast with actionable guidance instead of producing a confusing upstream 404.

Source

Thrown at clis/openalex/utils.js:75

    // 2) bare W… id
    if (WORK_ID.test(raw.toUpperCase())) {
        return raw.toUpperCase();
    }
    // 3) doi:… prefix
    if (/^doi:/i.test(raw)) {
        const doi = raw.replace(/^doi:/i, '').trim();
        if (DOI_BARE.test(doi)) return `doi:${doi}`;
    }
    // 4) full doi URL
    const doiUrl = raw.match(/^https?:\/\/(?:dx\.)?doi\.org\/(.+)$/i);
    if (doiUrl && DOI_BARE.test(doiUrl[1])) {
        return `doi:${doiUrl[1]}`;
    }
    // 5) bare 10.xxxx/yyy DOI
    if (DOI_BARE.test(raw)) {
        return `doi:${raw}`;
    }
    throw new ArgumentError(
        `openalex work id "${value}" is not recognised`,
        'Use a Work id ("W2741809807"), a DOI ("10.7717/peerj.4375"), or a full openalex.org / doi.org URL.',
    );
}

export async function openalexFetch(url, label) {
    let resp;
    try {
        resp = await fetch(url, { headers: { 'user-agent': UA, accept: 'application/json' } });
    }
    catch (err) {
        throw new CommandExecutionError(
            `${label} request failed: ${err?.message ?? err}`,
            'Check that api.openalex.org is reachable from this network.',
        );
    }
    if (resp.status === 404) {
        throw new EmptyResultError(label, `OpenAlex returned 404 for ${url}.`);

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

1. Convert the identifier to a supported form: W-id or DOI
2. Resolve the title via the openalex search command first, then use the returned W-id/DOI
3. Check the ID wasn't truncated or altered during copy-paste
4. arXiv IDs are not supported — find the paper's DOI (e.g. via search) instead

Example fix

// before
await work('Attention Is All You Need'); // title, not an ID
// after
const [hit] = await search('attention is all you need');
await work(hit.id); // e.g. 'W2963403828'

function isRecognizedWorkRef(v) {
  const s = String(v ?? '').trim();
  return /^W\d{4,}$/i.test(s)
    || /^10\.\S+$/.test(s)
    || /^https?:\/\/(?:api\.)?openalex\.org\//i.test(s)
    || /^https?:\/\/doi\.org\//i.test(s);
}
if (!isRecognizedWorkRef(ref)) throw new Error('Use a W-id, DOI, or openalex/doi.org URL');

function isWorkRef(v) {
  const s = String(v ?? '').trim();
  return /^W\d{4,}$/.test(s.toUpperCase()) || /^10\.\S+$/.test(s);
}

try {
  await work(ref);
} catch (e) {
  if (e.name === 'ArgumentError' && e.message.includes('is not recognised')) {
    console.error('Unrecognized ref format; use W-id, DOI, or a full URL');
    process.exitCode = 2;
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Passing a title string, PMID, arXiv ID, semantic-scholar ID, a W-id with too few digits (WORK_ID requires W plus >=4 digits), or any random string as the work `ref`.

Common situations: Pasting a paper title or an arXiv id like '2301.07041' expecting lookup; truncating a W-id during copy-paste so it has fewer than 4 digits; confusing PubMed/Scopus IDs with OpenAlex IDs; passing a DOI missing its '10.' prefix.

Related errors

• openalex ${label} cannot be empty
• openalex ${label} must be a positive integer
• openalex ${label} must be <= ${maxValue}
• openalex work id is required (e.g. "W2741809807", "10.7717/p
• openalex work id "${value}" must be a Work (W…) ID, got "${i

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c40c5f4ab392fe42. Report an issue: GitHub.