jackwener/OpenCLI · info · EmptyResultError

TVmaze returned no shows matching "${query}".

Error message

TVmaze returned no shows matching "${query}".

What it means

This EmptyResultError is thrown when the TVmaze /search/shows API responds successfully but returns an empty array (or a non-array), meaning no shows matched the query string. The adapter treats 'no results' as a distinct, expected outcome rather than a network or parsing failure. It is informational about search specificity, not a malfunction.

Source

Thrown at clis/tvmaze/search.js:37

    browser: false,
    args: [
        { name: 'query', positional: true, type: 'string', required: true, help: 'TV show title or fragment to search for' },
        { name: 'limit', type: 'int', default: 20, help: 'Max rows to return (1-50)' },
    ],
    columns: [
        'rank', 'id', 'name', 'type', 'language', 'genres',
        'status', 'premiered', 'ended', 'network', 'rating',
        'matchScore', 'summary', 'url',
    ],
    func: async (args) => {
        const query = requireString(args.query, 'query');
        const limit = requireBoundedInt(args.limit, 20, 50, 'limit');
        const list = await tvmazeFetch(
            `${TVMAZE_BASE}/search/shows?q=${encodeURIComponent(query)}`,
            `tvmaze search ${query}`,
        );
        if (!Array.isArray(list) || list.length === 0) {
            throw new EmptyResultError('tvmaze search', `TVmaze returned no shows matching "${query}".`);
        }
        const rows = list.slice(0, limit).map((entry, i) => {
            const show = entry?.show ?? {};
            const network = show.network?.name ?? show.webChannel?.name ?? '';
            return {
                rank: i + 1,
                id: typeof show.id === 'number' ? show.id : null,
                name: String(show.name ?? '').trim(),
                type: String(show.type ?? '').trim(),
                language: String(show.language ?? '').trim(),
                genres: joinList(show.genres),
                status: String(show.status ?? '').trim(),
                premiered: typeof show.premiered === 'string' ? show.premiered : null,
                ended: typeof show.ended === 'string' ? show.ended : null,
                network: String(network).trim(),
                rating: show.rating?.average == null ? null : Number(show.rating.average),
                matchScore: typeof entry?.score === 'number' ? entry.score : null,
                summary: stripHtml(show.summary),

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

1. Shorten and simplify the query to the core show title.
2. Check spelling of the show name.
3. Search the title directly on tvmaze.com to confirm it exists in their database.
4. Handle EmptyResultError in calling code and prompt the user for a different query.

Example fix

// before
await tvmazeSearch('game of thrones season 2 episode 1');
// after
await tvmazeSearch('game of thrones');

const q = String(query ?? '').trim();
if (!q) throw new Error('A non-empty show title is required before calling tvmaze search');

function isNonEmptyString(v) {
    return typeof v === 'string' && v.trim().length > 0;
}

try {
    const rows = await tvmazeSearch(query);
} catch (err) {
    if (err instanceof EmptyResultError) {
        console.log(`No TVmaze shows found for "${query}"; try a shorter title.`);
    } else {
        throw err;
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling the `tvmaze search` command with a query string that matches zero shows in the TVmaze database — typos, very obscure titles, or over-specific queries like 'game of thrones season 2'.

Common situations: Misspelled show names; searching by actor or character name instead of show title; searching non-English titles not indexed by TVmaze; passing the full episode title instead of the series name.

Understand the failure class

Background: EmptyResultError / "no results found": when an API or scraper succeeds but returns zero rows — this error's family across 9 libraries.

Related errors

• No Semantic Scholar papers matched "${query}".
• TVmaze returned no show for id ${id}.
• No items match "${query}" on archive.org.
• Bilibili user search returned malformed result for ${input}
• No hotels rendered (${totalText}). Try a broader destination

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0860a589ecc48d3a. Report an issue: GitHub.