mislav/hub · warning

Error: must enter a number [1-%d]

Error message

Error: must enter a number [1-%d]

What it means

In selectHost, the user is shown a numbered list of configured hosts and asked to pick one. If the entered text is not an integer or is outside the range [1, options], utils.Check raises this error and the program exits. It is an input-validation guard on the interactive host selection prompt.

Source

Thrown at github/config.go:257

func (c *Config) selectHost() *Host {
	options := len(c.Hosts)

	if options == 1 {
		return c.Hosts[0]
	}

	prompt := "Select host:\n"
	for idx, host := range c.Hosts {
		prompt += fmt.Sprintf(" %d. %s\n", idx+1, host.Host)
	}
	prompt += fmt.Sprint("> ")

	ui.Printf(prompt)
	index := c.scanLine()
	i, err := strconv.Atoi(index)
	if err != nil || i < 1 || i > options {
		utils.Check(fmt.Errorf("Error: must enter a number [1-%d]", options))
	}

	return c.Hosts[i-1]
}

var defaultConfigsFile string

func configsFile() string {
	if configFromEnv := os.Getenv("HUB_CONFIG"); configFromEnv != "" {
		return configFromEnv
	}
	if defaultConfigsFile == "" {
		var err error
		defaultConfigsFile, err = determineConfigLocation()
		utils.Check(err)
	}
	return defaultConfigsFile
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 5c547ed804)

Solutions

1. Re-run the command and enter only the numeric list index shown next to the desired host (1-N).
2. Trim ~/.config/hub to a single host entry so the prompt never appears.
3. Pipe a valid number into the prompt when automating (e.g. `echo 1 | hub ...`).

Example fix

// before: `echo github.com | hub browse` fails
// after
$ echo 1 | hub browse   # enter the index, not the host name

// Avoid the interactive prompt entirely by pre-selecting a single host:
if len(cfg.Hosts) > 1 {
    os.Setenv("GITHUB_HOST", cfg.Hosts[0].Host) // hub honors GITHUB_HOST
}

defer func() {
    if r := recover(); r != nil {
        if strings.Contains(fmt.Sprint(r), "must enter a number") {
            fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "Enter the numeric index (1-N) at the host prompt")
            os.Exit(1)
        }
        panic(r)
    }
}()

When it happens

Trigger: Typing a non-numeric string (e.g. "github.com") or a number < 1 or > number-of-options at the "Select which host" prompt during DefaultHost when multiple hosts are configured.

Common situations: First-run setup with several host entries in ~/.config/hub; pasting a hostname instead of the list number; scripts feeding invalid input into the prompt.

Related errors

• missing user

AI-assisted analysis of mislav/hub@5c547ed804 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d3b76e7cd92ec87d. Report an issue: GitHub.