paperclipai/paperclip · error · Error

npm returned an unexpected version response: ${trimmed}

Error message

npm returned an unexpected version response: ${trimmed}

What it means

Error "npm returned an unexpected version response: ${trimmed}" thrown in paperclipai/paperclip.

Source

Thrown at cli/src/commands/install.ts:117

    const version = options.version.trim();
    if (!EXACT_VERSION_PATTERN.test(version)) {
      throw new Error(`--version requires an exact published version, received '${options.version}'.`);
    }
    return { spec: version, channel: "pinned" };
  }
  return options.canary ? { spec: "canary", channel: "canary" } : { spec: "latest", channel: "latest" };
}

function parseResolvedVersion(stdout: string): string {
  const trimmed = stdout.trim();
  if (!trimmed) throw new Error("npm returned an empty version response.");
  try {
    const parsed = JSON.parse(trimmed) as unknown;
    if (typeof parsed === "string") return parsed;
  } catch {
    if (EXACT_VERSION_PATTERN.test(trimmed)) return trimmed;
  }
  throw new Error(`npm returned an unexpected version response: ${trimmed}`);
}

export async function resolvePublishedVersion(spec: string, runCommand: CommandRunner): Promise<string> {
  const result = await runCommand(
    "npm",
    ["view", `paperclipai@${spec}`, "version", "--json", `--registry=${PUBLIC_NPM_REGISTRY}`],
    { maxBuffer: 1024 * 1024 },
  );
  return parseResolvedVersion(result.stdout);
}

export function resolveGitInstallRequest(options: InstallOptions): { repo: string; ref: string; pinned: boolean } | null {
  if (!options.ref && !options.repo) return null;
  if (!options.ref) throw new Error("--repo requires --ref.");
  if (options.canary || options.version) throw new Error("--ref cannot be combined with --canary or --version.");
  const repo = (options.repo ?? DEFAULT_GITHUB_REPO).trim();
  const ref = options.ref.trim();
  if (!/^[A-Za-z0-9_.-]+\/[A-Za-z0-9_.-]+$/.test(repo)) throw new Error(`--repo must be an owner/name GitHub repository, received '${repo}'.`);

View on GitHub (pinned to 67001ec6eb)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cli/src/commands/install.ts:117 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of paperclipai/paperclip@67001ec6eb (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1294b4e4a33041f8. Report an issue: GitHub.