jackwener/OpenCLI · error · CommandExecutionError

Zhihu answer detail returned an error payload: ${data.error?

Error message

Zhihu answer detail returned an error payload: ${data.error?.message || data.error_msg || data.message}

What it means

This CommandExecutionError is thrown when the response object explicitly signals an application-level error: it contains an `error` object, `error_msg`, or `message` field. The first available message (data.error?.message, else data.error_msg, else data.message) is embedded in the thrown error, surfacing Zhihu's own error text to the developer.

Source

Thrown at clis/zhihu/answer-detail.js:119

                    ? `Zhihu answer detail request failed (HTTP ${status})`
                    : 'Zhihu answer detail request failed',
                'Try again later or rerun with -v for more detail',
            );
        }
        if (data.__malformedJson) {
            throw new CommandExecutionError(
                `Zhihu answer detail returned malformed JSON: ${data.__malformedJson}`,
                'Try again later or rerun with -v for more detail',
            );
        }
        if (typeof data !== 'object' || Array.isArray(data)) {
            throw new CommandExecutionError(
                'Zhihu answer detail returned a malformed payload',
                'Try again later or rerun with -v for more detail',
            );
        }
        if (data.error || data.error_msg || data.message) {
            throw new CommandExecutionError(
                `Zhihu answer detail returned an error payload: ${data.error?.message || data.error_msg || data.message}`,
                'Try again later or rerun with -v for more detail',
            );
        }
        if (!Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(data, 'content')) {
            throw new CommandExecutionError(
                'Zhihu answer detail payload did not include answer content',
                'Try again later or rerun with -v for more detail',
            );
        }
        const question = data.question || {};
        // Answer ids and newer question ids can exceed
        // Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER. Prefer ids parsed from user input or
        // the canonical redirected URL; only fall back to API numeric ids
        // when no string-safe source is available.
        const questionId = target.questionId
            || currentQuestionId
            || extractQuestionIdFromAnswerUrl(question.url)

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

Read the embedded Zhihu error message to identify the specific cause and act on it.
Re-login or use an account with access to the requested answer if it is permission-related.
Retry later if the message suggests a transient server-side condition.
Rerun with -v for full payload context.

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Type guard

function hasApiErrorField(d) { return !!(d && typeof d === 'object' && (d.error || d.error_msg || d.message)); }

Try / catch

try {
  const detail = await answerDetail(id);
} catch (err) {
  const m = err.message.match(/error payload: (.+)$/);
  if (m) {
    console.error(`Zhihu said: ${m[1]}`); // act on Zhihu's own message
    return null;
  }
  throw err;
}

Prevention

Parse and log the embedded Zhihu message to distinguish permission vs. transient issues.
Re-login when messages indicate session or permission problems.
Skip answers whose error messages indicate policy restriction instead of retrying.
Back off when messages suggest server-side load.

When it happens

Trigger: The fetched JSON object has a truthy data.error, data.error_msg, or data.message — Zhihu processed the request but returned an API-level error (e.g. account restriction, content removed, permission denial) with HTTP 200.

Common situations: Answer content restricted by Zhihu policy, account-level API limits, session recognized but not authorized for that content, or Zhihu soft-error responses that still use HTTP 200.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0a59e682bf7de1f5. Report an issue: GitHub.