lima-vm/lima · error

option --json conflicts with option --format

Error message

option --json conflicts with option --format

What it means

`limactl list` treats --json as shorthand for '--format json', so passing both --json and an explicit --format is ambiguous and rejected. listAction performs this conflict check before producing any output.

Source

Thrown at cmd/limactl/list.go:162

	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	yq, err := cmd.Flags().GetStringArray("yq")
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	filter, err := cmd.Flags().GetStringArray("filter")
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	if jsonFormat {
		format = "json"
	}

	// conflicts
	if jsonFormat && cmd.Flags().Changed("format") {
		return errors.New("option --json conflicts with option --format")
	}
	if listFields && cmd.Flags().Changed("format") {
		return errors.New("option --list-fields conflicts with option --format")
	}
	if len(yq) != 0 {
		if cmd.Flags().Changed("format") && format != "json" && format != "yaml" {
			return errors.New("option --yq only works with --format json or yaml")
		}
		if listFields {
			return errors.New("option --list-fields conflicts with option --yq")
		}
	}
	if len(filter) != 0 {
		if listFields {
			return errors.New("option --list-fields conflicts with option --filter")
		}
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to dd909d0973)

Solutions

1. Drop --json and use only `--format json`
2. Or keep --json and remove the --format flag
3. Audit scripts for both flags appearing together

Example fix

// before
limactl list --json --format yaml
// after
limactl list --format yaml

args := os.Args[1:]
if slices.Contains(args, "--json") && slices.Contains(args, "--format") {
    args = slices.DeleteFunc(args, func(a string) bool { return a == "--json" })
}

if err := runList(); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "--json conflicts with --format") { /* retry without --json */ }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `limactl list --json --format yaml` (or any --format value) — jsonFormat is true and cmd.Flags().Changed("format") is also true.

Common situations: Combining flags from older docs (--json) with newer formatting examples (--format); shell scripts accumulating flags over time; copy-pasting two examples together.

Related errors

• option --list-fields conflicts with option --format
• option --yq only works with --format json or yaml
• option --list-fields conflicts with option --yq
• option --list-fields conflicts with option --filter
• option --quiet can only be used with '--format table'

AI-assisted analysis of lima-vm/lima@dd909d0973 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a98fdb46b69561b4. Report an issue: GitHub.