jackwener/OpenCLI · error · CommandExecutionError

Reply failed: ${result.detail}

Error message

Reply failed: ${result.detail}

What it means

Thrown by the reddit `reply` command when the in-page script throws a JavaScript exception inside page.evaluate (result.kind === 'exception'). The browser-side try/catch converts the thrown error to a string and this error surfaces it as `Reply failed: <detail>`. It means the automation script itself crashed (DOM change, null access, network failure inside the page), not that Reddit rejected the content.

Source

Thrown at clis/reddit/reply.js:175

      } catch (e) {
        return { kind: 'exception', detail: String(e && e.message || e) };
      }
    })()`);

        if (result?.kind === 'auth') {
            throw new AuthRequiredError('reddit.com', result.detail);
        }
        if (result?.kind === 'http') {
            throw new CommandExecutionError(`HTTP ${result.httpStatus} from ${result.where}`);
        }
        if (result?.kind === 'reddit-error') {
            throw new CommandExecutionError(`Reddit rejected reply: ${result.detail}`);
        }
        if (result?.kind === 'postcondition') {
            throw new CommandExecutionError(result.detail);
        }
        if (result?.kind === 'exception') {
            throw new CommandExecutionError(`Reply failed: ${result.detail}`);
        }
        if (result?.kind !== 'ok') {
            throw new CommandExecutionError(`Unexpected result from reddit reply: ${JSON.stringify(result)}`);
        }
        return [{ status: 'success', message: result.detail }];
    },
});

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

1. Read the `detail` suffix to identify the underlying in-page exception
2. Check that the browser session is on a normal reddit.com page, not an error or captcha interstitial
3. Update the CLI/automation script if Reddit changed its DOM or API endpoints
4. Retry once after a delay in case of a transient in-page network failure
5. Catch CommandExecutionError and fall back to manual posting

Example fix

// before
await cli.run('reddit reply', { 'post-id': id, text });
// after
try {
  await cli.run('reddit reply', { 'post-id': id, text });
} catch (e) {
  if (e.message.startsWith('Reply failed:')) await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 2000)).then(() => retry());
  else throw e;
}

// Confirm a healthy session page before invoking:
if (!page || !page.url().includes('reddit.com')) throw new Error('Open reddit.com in the session first');

function isExceptionResult(r) {
  return r != null && typeof r === 'object' && r.kind === 'exception' && typeof r.detail === 'string';
}

try {
  await cli.run('reddit reply', { 'post-id': postId, text });
} catch (e) {
  if (e.message.startsWith('Reply failed:')) {
    console.error('In-page exception:', e.message);
    await sleep(2000); // retry once for transient in-page failures
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling the reddit reply command when the page.evaluate async function throws: e.g. a fetch inside the page fails, a DOM element the script expects (comment box, submit button) is missing, or an unhandled null/undefined access in the injected script.

Common situations: Reddit UI/markup changes breaking selectors the injected script relies on; Reddit serving an interstitial (blocked, captcha) page instead of the post; intermittent network failures inside the browser session.

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AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1bb58885895e8e19. Report an issue: GitHub.