nodejs/node · error

argument --no-copy-stat / -n already set\n

Error message

argument --no-copy-stat / -n already set\n

What it means

`-n`/`--no-copy-stat` tells brotli not to copy file metadata (permissions/timestamps) to the output. The parser rejects a second occurrence even though the effect is idempotent.

Source

Thrown at deps/brotli/c/tools/brotli.c:383

            fprintf(stderr, "force output overwrite already set\n");
            return COMMAND_INVALID;
          }
          params->force_overwrite = BROTLI_TRUE;
          continue;
        } else if (c == 'h') {
          /* Don't parse further. */
          return COMMAND_HELP;
        } else if (c == 'j' || c == 'k') {
          if (keep_set) {
            fprintf(stderr, "argument --rm / -j or --keep / -k already set\n");
            return COMMAND_INVALID;
          }
          keep_set = BROTLI_TRUE;
          params->junk_source = TO_BROTLI_BOOL(c == 'j');
          continue;
        } else if (c == 'n') {
          if (!params->copy_stat) {
            fprintf(stderr, "argument --no-copy-stat / -n already set\n");
            return COMMAND_INVALID;
          }
          params->copy_stat = BROTLI_FALSE;
          continue;
        } else if (c == 's') {
          if (squash_set) {
            fprintf(stderr, "argument --squash / -s already set\n");
            return COMMAND_INVALID;
          }
          squash_set = BROTLI_TRUE;
          params->reject_uncompressible = BROTLI_TRUE;
          continue;
        } else if (c == 't') {
          if (command_set) {
            fprintf(stderr, "command already set when parsing -t\n");
            return COMMAND_INVALID;
          }
          command_set = BROTLI_TRUE;

View on GitHub (pinned to 1b2de5e052)

Solutions

1. Remove the duplicate `-n`.
2. Construct argv from a set to avoid stacking.

Example fix

// before
brotli -n -n file
// after
brotli -n file

assert sum(1 for a in argv if a in ('-n','--no-copy-stat') or (a.startswith('-') and not a.startswith('--') and 'n' in a)) <= 1

When it happens

Trigger: Passing `-n` twice: `brotli -n -n file` or coalesced `brotli -nn file`.

Common situations: Alias + explicit duplicate; stacked short flags.

Related errors

• too many options passed
• quality already set
• write to standard output already set
• command already set when parsing -d
• force output overwrite already set\n

AI-assisted analysis of nodejs/node@1b2de5e052 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bb4d45ad5da6409a. Report an issue: GitHub.