nodejs/node · error · Exception

--depfile requires --stamp and vice versa

Error message

--depfile requires --stamp and vice versa

What it means

The inspector-protocol code_generator.py emits a depfile (a make/ninja dependency list) only when it also has a stamp file to write, and vice versa. It enforces this with `bool(arg_options.depfile) != bool(arg_options.stamp)`, so exactly one of the two being set is an error; both empty or both set is fine.

Source

Thrown at deps/inspector_protocol/code_generator.py:87

    cmdline_parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    cmdline_parser.add_argument("--output_base", type=unicode, required=True)
    cmdline_parser.add_argument("--jinja_dir", type=unicode, required=True)
    cmdline_parser.add_argument("--config", type=unicode, required=True)
    cmdline_parser.add_argument("--config_value", default=[], action="append")
    cmdline_parser.add_argument(
      "--inspector_protocol_dir", type=unicode, required=True,
      help=("directory with code_generator.py and C++ encoding / binding "
          "libraries, relative to the root of the source tree."))
    cmdline_parser.add_argument("--depfile", type=unicode, required=False)
    cmdline_parser.add_argument("--stamp", type=unicode, required=False)
    arg_options = cmdline_parser.parse_args()
    jinja_dir = arg_options.jinja_dir
    output_base = arg_options.output_base
    config_file = arg_options.config
    config_base = os.path.dirname(config_file)
    config_values = arg_options.config_value
    if bool(arg_options.depfile) != bool(arg_options.stamp):
      raise Exception("--depfile requires --stamp and vice versa")
    depfile = arg_options.depfile
    stamp = arg_options.stamp
    inspector_protocol_dir = arg_options.inspector_protocol_dir.lstrip('/')
  except Exception:
    # Work with python 2 and 3 http://docs.python.org/py3k/howto/pyporting.html
    exc = sys.exc_info()[1]
    sys.stderr.write("Failed to parse command-line arguments: %s\n\n" % exc)
    exit(1)

  try:
    config_json_file = open(config_file, "r")
    config_json_string = config_json_file.read()
    config_partial = json_to_object(config_json_string, output_base,
                                    config_base)
    config_json_file.close()
    defaults = {
      ".use_snake_file_names": False,
      ".use_title_case_methods": False,

View on GitHub (pinned to 1b2de5e052)

Solutions

1. Supply both --depfile <path> and --stamp <path>, or omit both.
2. If you added --depfile to capture dependencies, add the matching --stamp so the build knows when to regenerate.
3. Check the calling gyp/gn action and align the two argument lists.

Example fix

# before
python code_generator.py --depfile out/dep.d ...
# after
python code_generator.py --depfile out/dep.d --stamp out/stamp ...

if bool(args.depfile) != bool(args.stamp):
    raise SystemExit('--depfile and --stamp must be supplied together or both omitted')

When it happens

Trigger: Raised in main() when exactly one of --depfile / --stamp is passed via the command line. Both are argparse optional strings, so the XOR check is the only guard.

Common situations: GYP/gn rule edits that wired up depfile generation but forgot the stamp target (or the reverse); partial ports of the inspector-protocol build rule to a new generator; manual invocation while debugging the protocol bindings.

Related errors

• --depfile requires --stamp and vice versa
• Dictionary key is not a string.
• Dictionary key is not a valid GN identifier.
• Unsupported type when printing to GN.
• --enable-v8windbg is incompatible with --without-bundled-v8.

AI-assisted analysis of nodejs/node@1b2de5e052 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/20ec2515745438af. Report an issue: GitHub.