nanocoai/nanoclaw · error · Error

url query parameter "${key}" looks like a credential; use On

Error message

url query parameter "${key}" looks like a credential; use OneCLI for authentication

What it means

A query parameter key in the MCP url matches a credential-looking pattern (SECRET_QUERY_KEY_RE after camelCase normalization), e.g. token, apiKey, api_key, secret. Like embedded userinfo, this is rejected to keep secrets out of config files and logs — auth belongs in OneCLI.

Source

Thrown at src/container-config.ts:166

    if (input.args !== undefined || input.env !== undefined || input.cwd !== undefined) {
      throw new Error('args, env, and cwd are only valid with command');
    }
    let parsed: URL;
    try {
      parsed = new URL(url);
    } catch (err) {
      throw new Error('url must be a valid HTTP(S) URL', { cause: err });
    }
    const loopback = ['localhost', '127.0.0.1', '[::1]', 'host.docker.internal'].includes(parsed.hostname);
    if (parsed.protocol !== 'https:' && !(parsed.protocol === 'http:' && loopback)) {
      throw new Error('url must use HTTPS (plain HTTP is allowed only for localhost and host.docker.internal)');
    }
    if (parsed.username || parsed.password || parsed.hash) {
      throw new Error('url must not contain credentials or fragments; use OneCLI for authentication');
    }
    for (const key of parsed.searchParams.keys()) {
      if (SECRET_QUERY_KEY_RE.test(key.replace(CAMEL_SPLIT_RE, '$1_$2'))) {
        throw new Error(`url query parameter "${key}" looks like a credential; use OneCLI for authentication`);
      }
    }
    const headers = parseStringRecord(input.headers, 'headers');
    return {
      type: 'http',
      url,
      ...(headers === undefined ? {} : { headers }),
      ...(instructions === undefined ? {} : { instructions }),
    };
  }
  if (command === undefined) throw new Error('Provide exactly one of command or url');

  if (input.headers !== undefined) throw new Error('headers is only valid with url');
  const args = input.args ?? [];
  if (!Array.isArray(args) || !args.every((arg) => typeof arg === 'string')) {
    throw new Error('args must be a JSON array of strings');
  }
  const env = parseStringRecord(input.env, 'env') ?? {};

View on GitHub (pinned to 294ef2aee8)

Solutions

1. Move the credential into OneCLI and let it inject the appropriate header at request time
2. If the parameter is genuinely not a secret, rename it to something that doesn't match token/key/secret patterns
3. Ask the MCP server operator for a header-based auth scheme

Example fix

// before
{"url":"https://mcp.example.com/mcp?apiKey=abc123"}
// after
{"url":"https://mcp.example.com/mcp"}  // key stored in OneCLI

const u = new URL(entry.url); for (const k of u.searchParams.keys()) if (/token|key|secret|pass/i.test(k)) throw new UserError(`move ${k} to OneCLI`);

const urlQueryLooksSafe = (s: string) => { const u = new URL(s); return ![...u.searchParams.keys()].some(k => /token|key|secret|pass/i.test(k)); };

catch (err) { if (err.message.includes('looks like a credential')) stripQueryAndUseVault(); else throw err; }

When it happens

Trigger: urls like https://mcp.example.com/mcp?token=abc123 or ?apiKey=XYZ in an http MCP server entry.

Common situations: Vendor docs that put the API key in a query string; copy-pasting a browser-authenticated URL; Sentry/GitHub-style ?token= patterns.

Understand the failure class

• Authentication and authorization failures — expired tokens, bad credentials, and missing scopes.

Related errors

• url must not contain credentials or fragments; use OneCLI fo
• url must use HTTPS (plain HTTP is allowed only for localhost
• cwd escapes the plugin root
• ${settingsFile} hooks.SessionStart must be an array
• --name is required

AI-assisted analysis of nanocoai/nanoclaw@294ef2aee8 (2026-08-28). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9529bf583fda7a5c. Report an issue: GitHub.