jackwener/OpenCLI · error · CommandExecutionError

Trip.com flight DOM extraction returned malformed rows

Error message

Trip.com flight DOM extraction returned malformed rows${reason}

What it means

This CommandExecutionError from clis/trip/flight.js is thrown when buildFlightExtractJs() returns a non-array, meaning the in-page extractor found flight-card-like elements but failed to parse at least one row into a clean object. When the returned object carries an error string matching /^malformed flight card \d+: [a-z /]+$/, that per-card reason is appended to the message. It signals a DOM structure change or unexpected card content, not an empty page.

Solutions

Read the appended reason (if any) to see which card and field was malformed.
Open the page in a browser and inspect the flight card DOM for layout changes.
Update buildFlightExtractJs() field selectors to match the current markup.
Add defensive field extraction (defaulting missing fields) so a single odd card does not abort the whole extraction, then retry.

Example fix

// before
throw new CommandExecutionError(`...malformed rows${reason}`);
// after
if (!Array.isArray(raw)) {
  console.warn('extraction returned', raw);
  raw = []; // or skip malformed cards inside buildFlightExtractJs
}
throw new CommandExecutionError(`...malformed rows${reason}`); // only when unrecoverable

Defensive patterns

Strategy: type-guard

Validate before calling

// Cannot pre-validate server DOM; verify library/site assumptions after upgrade:
const smoke = await runTripFlight({ from: 'SFO', to: 'LAX', date: nextFriday(), limit: 1 });
if (!Array.isArray(smoke)) throw new Error('extractor contract broken');

Type guard

const isExtractFailure = (e) => e instanceof CommandExecutionError && /malformed rows/.test(e.message);
const isArrayPayload = (v) => Array.isArray(v);

Try / catch

try {
  const flights = await runTripFlight(args);
} catch (e) {
  if (isExtractFailure(e)) {
    console.error(`Trip.com DOM may have changed: ${e.message}`);
    return null; // degrade gracefully, alert maintainers
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

Include the extractor's raw.error reason in monitoring alerts.
Make in-page extractors skip malformed cards instead of failing whole extraction.
Re-run a smoke search after Trip.com releases UI changes.
Keep extraction selectors centralized and easily updatable.

When it happens

Trigger: page.evaluate(buildFlightExtractJs()) returns null, an object like { error: 'malformed flight card 3: missing airline' }, or any non-array because one or more flight cards lacked expected fields/shape.

Common situations: Trip.com A/B-testing a new flight card layout; ads or sponsored cards injected into the results list with different markup; partially rendered cards missing airline/time nodes when the extractor runs; regional variants of the site with different DOM.

Understand the failure class

Parsing and encoding errors: unexpected token, malformed input — why parsers reject input and how to find the real culprit.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9ddca788eb88f751. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at clis/trip/flight.js:68

        const date = parseIsoDate('date', kwargs.date);
        const limit = parseListLimit(kwargs.limit);

        const searchUrl = buildFlightSearchUrl(fromCode, toCode, date);
        await page.goto(searchUrl);
        const waitResult = await page.evaluate(WAIT_FOR_FLIGHTS_JS);
        if (waitResult === 'captcha') {
            throw new AuthRequiredError('trip.com', 'Trip.com is asking for a verification; complete it in your browser session and retry');
        }
        if (waitResult !== 'content') {
            throw new CommandExecutionError(`Trip.com flight page did not render flight cards (state=${String(waitResult)})`);
        }
        const raw = await page.evaluate(buildFlightExtractJs());
        if (!Array.isArray(raw)) {
            const reason = raw && typeof raw === 'object' && typeof raw.error === 'string'
                && /^malformed flight card \d+: [a-z /]+$/.test(raw.error)
                ? `: ${raw.error}`
                : '';
            throw new CommandExecutionError(`Trip.com flight DOM extraction returned malformed rows${reason}`);
        }
        if (raw.length === 0) {
            throw new EmptyResultError('trip flight', `No flights for ${fromCode} to ${toCode} on ${date}`);
        }
        return raw.slice(0, limit).map((r, i) => ({
            rank: i + 1,
            airline: r.airline,
            departureTime: r.departureTime,
            departureAirport: r.departureAirport,
            arrivalTime: r.arrivalTime,
            arrivalAirport: r.arrivalAirport,
            duration: r.duration,
            stops: r.stops,
            price: r.price,
            currency: r.currency,
            url: searchUrl,
        }));
    },

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