jackwener/OpenCLI · error · ArgumentError

prompt is required

Error message

prompt is required

What it means

ArgumentError thrown by the qwen ask command's func when the --prompt keyword is missing or trims to an empty string. It is upfront input validation before any browser automation runs.

Source

Thrown at clis/qwen/ask.js:41

    description: 'Send a prompt to Qianwen and return the assistant reply',
    domain: QIANWEN_DOMAIN,
    strategy: Strategy.COOKIE,
    browser: true,
    siteSession: 'persistent',
    navigateBefore: false,
    defaultFormat: 'plain',
    args: [
        { name: 'prompt', required: true, positional: true, help: 'Prompt to send to Qianwen' },
        { name: 'timeout', type: 'int', default: 120, help: 'Max seconds to wait for the response' },
        { name: 'new', type: 'boolean', default: false, help: 'Start a new chat before sending' },
        { name: 'think', type: 'boolean', default: false, help: 'Enable 深度思考 (DeepThink)' },
        { name: 'research', type: 'boolean', default: false, help: 'Enable 深度研究 (DeepResearch)' },
        { name: 'markdown', type: 'boolean', default: false, help: 'Emit assistant reply as markdown' },
    ],
    columns: ['Role', 'Text'],
    func: async (page, kwargs) => {
        const prompt = String(kwargs.prompt || '').trim();
        if (!prompt) throw new ArgumentError('prompt is required');
        const timeout = Number(kwargs.timeout ?? 120);
        if (!Number.isInteger(timeout) || timeout <= 0) {
            throw new ArgumentError('timeout must be a positive integer');
        }
        const startFresh = normalizeBooleanFlag(kwargs.new, false);
        const useThink = normalizeBooleanFlag(kwargs.think, false);
        const useResearch = normalizeBooleanFlag(kwargs.research, false);
        const wantMarkdown = normalizeBooleanFlag(kwargs.markdown, false);

        await ensureOnQianwen(page);
        await dismissLoginModal(page);

        if (startFresh) {
            await startNewChat(page);
            await dismissLoginModal(page);
        }

        if (useThink) await setFeatureToggle(page, 'think', true);

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

1. Pass a non-empty --prompt value.
2. In scripts, default or assert the prompt variable before invoking: [ -n "$PROMPT" ] || exit 1.
3. Quote the prompt to survive spaces in the shell.

Example fix

// before
qwen ask --prompt "" --timeout 120
// after
qwen ask --prompt "Summarize this repo" --timeout 120

const prompt = String(process.argv.prompt || '').trim();
if (!prompt) { console.error('usage: qwen ask --prompt "..."'); process.exit(2); }

function hasPrompt(kwargs) {
  return typeof kwargs.prompt === 'string' && kwargs.prompt.trim().length > 0;
}

try {
  await qwenAsk(page, { prompt });
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof ArgumentError && /prompt/.test(e.message)) {
    console.error('A non-empty --prompt is required');
  } else { throw e; }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `qwen ask` without --prompt, with --prompt "" or only whitespace; programmatic invocation passing kwargs without a prompt key.

Common situations: Shell quoting issues losing the argument; a script building the command with an empty variable; copy-pasting a command without the prompt value.

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

• ${label} is required
• ${label} must be a positive integer
• ${label} must be <= ${maxValue}
• dblp ${label} must be a positive integer
• dblp ${label} must be <= ${maxValue}

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b953d6d4fdcb965f. Report an issue: GitHub.