jestjs/jest · error · Error

Both --onlyFailures and --watchAll were specified, only one

Error message

Both --onlyFailures and --watchAll were specified, only one is allowed.

What it means

A dedicated guard in `check` (packages/jest-cli/src/args.ts:37) forbids `--onlyFailures` together with `--watchAll`. `--onlyFailures` reads the previous run's results to select failed tests, while `--watchAll` triggers a full re-run on any change; the two selection strategies conflict and the failure cache is not maintained across watch reruns.

Source

Thrown at packages/jest-cli/src/args.ts:38

  }

  for (const key of [
    'onlyChanged',
    'lastCommit',
    'changedFilesWithAncestor',
    'changedSince',
  ]) {
    if (argv[key] && argv.watchAll) {
      throw new Error(
        `Both --${key} and --watchAll were specified, but cannot be used ` +
          'together. Try the --watch option which reruns only tests ' +
          'related to changed files.',
      );
    }
  }

  if (argv.onlyFailures && argv.watchAll) {
    throw new Error(
      'Both --onlyFailures and --watchAll were specified, only one is allowed.',
    );
  }

  if (argv.findRelatedTests && argv._.length === 0) {
    throw new Error(
      'The --findRelatedTests option requires file paths to be specified.\n' +
        'Example usage: jest --findRelatedTests ./src/source.js ' +
        './src/index.js.',
    );
  }

  if (
    Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(argv, 'maxWorkers') &&
    argv.maxWorkers === undefined
  ) {
    throw new Error(
      'The --maxWorkers (-w) option requires a number or string to be specified.\n' +

View on GitHub (pinned to f49721c78e)

Solutions

1. Use `--watch` with `--onlyFailures` if available in your workflow, or run `--onlyFailures` once without watch.
2. If you need continuous full re-runs, drop `--onlyFailures` and keep `--watchAll`.

Example fix

# before
jest --onlyFailures --watchAll

# after
jest --onlyFailures  # one-shot rerun of failures

function validate(argv: { onlyFailures?: boolean; watchAll?: boolean }): void {
  if (argv.onlyFailures && argv.watchAll) {
    throw new Error('--onlyFailures cannot be combined with --watchAll');
  }
}

const onlyFailuresWithWatchAll = (a: any) => Boolean(a.onlyFailures && a.watchAll);

When it happens

Trigger: `jest --onlyFailures --watchAll` or `jest -f --watchAll`.

Common situations: Wanting a watch loop that only re-runs failing tests; combining flags from different scripts.

Related errors

• Both --${key} and --watchAll were specified, but cannot be u
• The --maxWorkers (-w) option requires a number or string to
• Both --runInBand and --maxWorkers were specified, only one i
• The --findRelatedTests option requires file paths to be spec
• The --selectProjects option requires the name of at least on

AI-assisted analysis of jestjs/jest@f49721c78e (2026-08-03). Data as JSON: /data/errors/48155784e9d35da1.json. Report an issue: GitHub.