paperclipai/paperclip · error

Use either a skill reference or --all, not both.

Error message

Use either a skill reference or --all, not both.

What it means

The skills update command got both a positional skill reference and --all; the mutual-exclusion guard fires because the update target is ambiguous.

Solutions

1. Pass either a single skill reference or --all, not both.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cli/src/commands/client/skills.ts:383 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of paperclipai/paperclip@120ae5428f (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ef5427dee5fcdf53. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at cli/src/commands/client/skills.ts:383

        } catch (err) {
          handleCommandError(err);
        }
      }),
    { includeCompany: true },
  );

  addCommonClientOptions(
    skills
      .command("update")
      .description("Install company skill updates")
      .argument("[skillRef]", "Company skill ID, key, or unique slug")
      .option("--all", "Check all skills and install available updates", false)
      .option("--force", "Discard local-modification or soft-audit holds; hard-stop audit findings still fail", false)
      .action(async (skillRef: string | undefined, opts: SkillUpdateOptions) => {
        try {
          const ctx = resolveCommandContext(opts, { requireCompany: true });
          if (opts.all && skillRef?.trim()) {
            throw new Error("Use either a skill reference or --all, not both.");
          }
          const rows = opts.all
            ? await updateAllCompanySkills(ctx, opts)
            : [await updateOneCompanySkill(ctx, requireSkillRef(skillRef), opts)];
          if (ctx.json) {
            printOutput(rows.length === 1 && !opts.all ? rows[0] : rows, { json: true });
            return;
          }
          printCompanySkillUpdateRows(rows);
        } catch (err) {
          handleCommandError(err);
        }
      }),
    { includeCompany: true },
  );

  addCommonClientOptions(
    skills

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