jackwener/OpenCLI · error · CommandExecutionError

weixin search returned an unreadable browser payload

Error message

weixin search returned an unreadable browser payload

What it means

Thrown when the browser-side extraction returns something other than an object with a `rows` array — i.e. the evaluate script produced null, a non-object, or an object missing the expected rows field. The library treats this as a page-structure change it cannot safely interpret, rather than returning garbage. It is a data-integrity guard, not a user-input error.

Source

Thrown at clis/weixin/search.js:123

        }

        const pageNo = normalizePage(kwargs.page);
        const limit = normalizeLimit(kwargs.limit);
        const searchUrl = buildSearchUrl(query, pageNo);

        let payload;
        try {
            await page.goto(searchUrl);
            await page.wait(2);
            payload = await page.evaluate(buildExtractSearchResultsEvaluate());
        }
        catch (error) {
            const detail = error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error);
            throw new CommandExecutionError('weixin search failed while loading Sogou results', detail);
        }

        if (!payload || typeof payload !== 'object' || !Array.isArray(payload.rows)) {
            throw new CommandExecutionError('weixin search returned an unreadable browser payload', 'Sogou Weixin may have changed its result page structure.');
        }
        if (payload.blocked) {
            throw new CommandExecutionError('Sogou Weixin blocked this search request', 'Open weixin.sogou.com in Chrome and complete any verification before retrying.');
        }
        if (payload.invalidCount > 0) {
            throw new CommandExecutionError('Sogou Weixin returned article cards without required title or URL', 'The result page structure may have changed; refusing to return a partial result set.');
        }

        const rows = payload.rows;
        if (rows.length === 0 && payload.empty) {
            throw new EmptyResultError('weixin search', 'Try a different keyword or a different page number.');
        }
        if (rows.length === 0) {
            throw new CommandExecutionError('weixin search did not expose article result cards', 'Sogou Weixin may have changed its selectors or returned a transient shell page.');
        }

        return rows.slice(0, limit).map((row, index) => ({
            rank: (pageNo - 1) * 10 + index + 1,

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

1. Upgrade the CLI to the latest version so extraction selectors match the current Sogou page
2. Open weixin.sogou.com manually and inspect whether the result-page structure changed
3. Retry later if Sogou is A/B testing — the structure may revert
4. Report the payload shape change to the CLI maintainers if it persists

function isSearchPayload(p) {
  return p !== null && typeof p === 'object' && Array.isArray(p.rows);
}

try { rows = await weixinSearch(q); }
catch (e) { if (String(e.message).includes('unreadable browser payload')) return fallbackToNewerCliVersion(); throw e; }

When it happens

Trigger: Sogou's HTML/JS changed so the extraction script returns null or an unexpected shape; the page rendered an error/interstitial whose DOM the script mishandles; the evaluate script itself threw and the payload variable never got the expected shape.

Common situations: Sogou ships a frontend redesign or A/B test variant; anti-bot serving a different page template; stale CLI version whose embedded extraction script no longer matches the live page.

Related errors

• Sogou Weixin returned article cards without required title o
• Booking.com hotel row is missing stable name/url identity
• BOSS search page did not expose its job-list response
• Ctrip is asking for a captcha; complete it in your browser s
• hotels.ctrip.com

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/745ac4676c31add2. Report an issue: GitHub.