What causes "Missing value for -${shortKey}" in openai/codex-plugin-cc?

Provide the value as the immediately following token: '-m gpt-5'.

openai/codex-plugin-cc · error · Error

Missing value for -${shortKey}

Error message

Missing value for -${shortKey}

What it means

Thrown by parseArgs when a short option (single-dash, e.g. -m) registered in config.valueOptions is the last token with no following value. Unlike long options, short options never support inline '=' values, so the parser can only consume the next argv token; if that token is undefined (end of array) the value-bearing option is unsatisfiable.

Source

Thrown at plugins/codex/scripts/lib/args.mjs:63

        continue;
      }

      positionals.push(token);
      continue;
    }

    const shortKey = token.slice(1);
    const key = aliasMap[shortKey] ?? shortKey;

    if (booleanOptions.has(key)) {
      options[key] = true;
      continue;
    }

    if (valueOptions.has(key)) {
      const nextValue = argv[index + 1];
      if (nextValue === undefined) {
        throw new Error(`Missing value for -${shortKey}`);
      }
      options[key] = nextValue;
      index += 1;
      continue;
    }

    positionals.push(token);
  }

  return { options, positionals };
}

export function splitRawArgumentString(raw) {
  const tokens = [];
  let current = "";
  let quote = null;
  let escaping = false;

View on GitHub (pinned to db52e28f4d)

Solutions

Provide the value as the immediately following token: '-m gpt-5'.
If the short key is an alias, ensure config.aliasMap maps it to the correct long key that is itself in valueOptions.
If no value is intended, move the key into config.booleanOptions so '-K' sets true without consuming a token.
When constructing argv dynamically, verify each value short-option has a successor token.

Example fix

// before
parseArgs(['-m'], { valueOptions: ['m'] }) // throws

// after
parseArgs(['-m', 'gpt-5'], { valueOptions: ['m'] })
// note: short options do NOT support '-m=gpt-5' inline syntax

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

function validateShortValueOptions(argv, valueOptions, aliasMap = {}) {
  const set = new Set(valueOptions);
  for (let i = 0; i < argv.length; i += 1) {
    const t = argv[i];
    if (/^-[a-zA-Z]$/.test(t)) {
      const key = aliasMap[t.slice(1)] ?? t.slice(1);
      if (set.has(key)) {
        const next = argv[i + 1];
        if (next === undefined) {
          throw new Error(`Missing value for ${t} (caught pre-parse)`);
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Type guard

null

Try / catch

null

Prevention

Remember short options never accept inline '=' values; always pass the next token.
Keep aliasMap in sync with valueOptions so short aliases resolve correctly.
Document short flags that consume values versus boolean short flags clearly.
Validate argv shape in CLI tests to catch regressions.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling parseArgs(argv, config) where config.valueOptions contains a single-character key K and argv ends with '-K'. Example: parseArgs(['-m'], { valueOptions: ['m'] }). Note the aliasMap may map short to long, so '-m' resolves via aliasMap['m'] before the valueOptions check.

Common situations: User types '-m' expecting a value but forgets it, or a wrapper script truncates the argument list. Confusing a boolean short flag with a value short flag (e.g. treating -v as verbose boolean vs -v as version value).

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of openai/codex-plugin-cc@db52e28f4d (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d77b08bacd55b6df. Report an issue: GitHub.