Invalid category ' '. Expected one of

Error message

Invalid category '${options.category}'. Expected one of: ${[...VALID_CATEGORIES].join(", ")}

What it means

Argument validation in scaffoldPluginProject: an options.category was supplied but is not in the VALID_CATEGORIES set. The category is written into the generated plugin manifest and must match the catalog categories Paperclip recognizes; the check fires before scaffolding begins. Omit category to use the default.

Solutions

Choose one of the listed valid categories.

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at packages/plugins/create-paperclip-plugin/src/index.ts:134 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of paperclipai/paperclip@a7e689b3c3 (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/33603ee94567252e. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at packages/plugins/create-paperclip-plugin/src/index.ts:134

/**
 * Generate a complete Paperclip plugin starter project.
 *
 * Output includes manifest/worker/UI entries, SDK harness tests, bundler presets,
 * and a local dev server script for hot-reload workflow.
 */
export function scaffoldPluginProject(options: ScaffoldPluginOptions): string {
  const template = options.template ?? "default";
  if (!VALID_TEMPLATES.includes(template)) {
    throw new Error(`Invalid template '${template}'. Expected one of: ${VALID_TEMPLATES.join(", ")}`);
  }

  if (!isValidPluginName(options.pluginName)) {
    throw new Error("Invalid plugin name. Must be lowercase and may include scope, dots, underscores, or hyphens.");
  }

  if (options.category && !VALID_CATEGORIES.has(options.category)) {
    throw new Error(`Invalid category '${options.category}'. Expected one of: ${[...VALID_CATEGORIES].join(", ")}`);
  }

  const outputDir = path.resolve(options.outputDir);
  if (fs.existsSync(outputDir)) {
    throw new Error(`Directory already exists: ${outputDir}`);
  }

  const displayName = options.displayName ?? makeDisplayName(options.pluginName);
  const description = options.description ?? "A Paperclip plugin";
  const author = options.author ?? "Plugin Author";
  const category = options.category ?? (template === "workspace" ? "workspace" : template === "environment" ? "environment" : "connector");
  const manifestId = packageToManifestId(options.pluginName);
  const localSdkPath = path.resolve(options.sdkPath ?? getLocalSdkPackagePath());
  const localSharedPath = getLocalSharedPackagePath(localSdkPath);
  const repoRoot = getRepoRootFromSdkPath(localSdkPath);
  const useWorkspaceSdk = isInsideDir(outputDir, repoRoot);

  fs.mkdirSync(outputDir, { recursive: true });

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