jackwener/OpenCLI · error · ArgumentError

packagist ${label} cannot be empty

Error message

packagist ${label} cannot be empty

What it means

The Packagist adapter's requireString helper normalizes its input with String(value ?? '').trim() and throws this ArgumentError when the result is empty. It is a guard ensuring required string arguments (labeled via `label`) are non-empty before any API work happens. Throwing early keeps callers from sending meaningless requests to packagist.org.

Source

Thrown at clis/packagist/utils.js:16

// Shared helpers for the Packagist (PHP / Composer) adapters.
//
// Hits the public, unauthenticated `packagist.org` JSON endpoints. Composer's
// canonical package registry. Package names are `<vendor>/<package>`,
// lowercase letters / digits / `_-.`, with each segment 1-100 chars.
import { ArgumentError, CommandExecutionError, EmptyResultError } from '@jackwener/opencli/errors';

export const PACKAGIST_BASE = 'https://packagist.org';
const UA = 'opencli-packagist-adapter (+https://github.com/jackwener/opencli)';

// Each segment of a Composer package name (`vendor` and `package`).
const SEGMENT = /^[a-z0-9]([_.-]?[a-z0-9]+)*$/;

export function requireString(value, label) {
    const s = String(value ?? '').trim();
    if (!s) throw new ArgumentError(`packagist ${label} cannot be empty`);
    return s;
}

export function requireBoundedInt(value, defaultValue, maxValue, label = 'limit') {
    const raw = value ?? defaultValue;
    const n = typeof raw === 'number' ? raw : Number(raw);
    if (!Number.isInteger(n) || n <= 0) {
        throw new ArgumentError(`packagist ${label} must be a positive integer`);
    }
    if (n > maxValue) {
        throw new ArgumentError(`packagist ${label} must be <= ${maxValue}`);
    }
    return n;
}

export function requirePackageName(value) {
    const raw = String(value ?? '').trim().toLowerCase();
    if (!raw) {

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

1. Provide a non-empty value for the labeled argument before calling query().
2. If the value comes from env/config, check it is set and non-blank (not just truthy after coercion).
3. Catch ArgumentError in your entry point and print usage help prompting for the missing value.
4. Trim user input and re-prompt if the trimmed result is empty.

Example fix

// before
await query(opts.q, { limit: 10 }); // opts.q may be undefined

// after
if (!opts.q || !opts.q.trim()) {
  throw new Error('Usage: packagist query <term>');
}
await query(opts.q.trim(), { limit: 10 });

function hasQuery(v) {
  return typeof v === 'string' && v.trim().length > 0;
}
if (!hasQuery(term)) throw new Error('query term required');

const isNonEmptyString = (v) => typeof v === 'string' && v.trim().length > 0;

try {
  await query(term);
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof ArgumentError && /cannot be empty/.test(e.message)) {
    console.error('A query term is required.');
    process.exitCode = 2;
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling query() (via requireString) with an empty string, whitespace-only string, null, or undefined for a required labeled parameter, e.g. requireString(searchParams.get('q'), 'query') where the query parameter is missing.

Common situations: CLI invoked without a required positional argument; an env var or config key holding an empty string; upstream code passing null/undefined instead of a value; user pressing enter on an empty prompt.

Related errors

• ${label} cannot be empty
• Instagram note content cannot be empty.
• prompt cannot be empty
• No fids provided
• --approve-kinds must contain at least one approval kind

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f7a7cb5c2517fd3b. Report an issue: GitHub.