pbakaus/impeccable · error · Error

${flag} requires a value.

Error message

${flag} requires a value.

What it means

Thrown by sheriff.mjs requireValue helper when a value-expecting flag (--repo, --warning-days, etc.) is either missing its value or the next token looks like another flag (starts with --). It guards against a value accidentally consuming the following flag.

Source

Thrown at scripts/github/sheriff.mjs:765

function splitList(value) {
  return String(value || '')
    .split(',')
    .map((item) => item.trim())
    .filter(Boolean);
}

function loginSet(logins) {
  return new Set(logins.map(normalizeLogin).filter(Boolean));
}

function normalizeLogin(login) {
  return String(login || '').toLowerCase();
}

function requireValue(argv, index, flag) {
  const value = argv[index];
  if (!value || value.startsWith('--')) throw new Error(`${flag} requires a value.`);
  return value;
}

function runGhJson(args) {
  const result = runGh(args, { quiet: true });
  try {
    return JSON.parse(result.stdout || '{}');
  } catch (err) {
    throw new Error(`Failed to parse gh JSON output: ${err.message}`);
  }
}

function runGh(args, options = {}) {
  const result = spawnSync('gh', args, {
    encoding: 'utf-8',
    env: process.env,
  });
  if (!options.quiet && result.stdout) process.stdout.write(result.stdout);

View on GitHub (pinned to d14711ae3d)

Solutions

1. Provide a concrete value immediately after the flag: `--repo owner/name`.
2. Reorder so value-flags are not adjacent to other flags without their value.
3. If the value may be empty in automation, guard and omit the flag entirely.

Example fix

# before
node sheriff.mjs --repo --apply

# after
node sheriff.mjs --repo owner/name --apply

function flagHasValue(argv, flag) {
  const idx = argv.indexOf(flag);
  if (idx === -1) return true;
  const value = argv[idx + 1];
  return typeof value === 'string' && value.length > 0 && !value.startsWith('--');
}

function isFlagValue(value) {
  return typeof value === 'string' && value.length > 0 && !value.startsWith('--');
}

const value = argv[index];
if (!isFlagValue(value)) {
  console.error(`${flag} requires a value.`);
  process.exit(2);
}

When it happens

Trigger: Passing `--repo --apply`, `--maintainers` as the last token, or `--warning-days --close-days 5`.

Common situations: Missing value, a reordered command line, or a shell expansion that produced an empty string.

Related errors

• Unknown argument: ${arg}
• --warning-days must be a non-negative number.
• --close-days must be at least --warning-days.
• --now must be a valid date.
• --target requires a path value (use --target <path> or --tar

AI-assisted analysis of pbakaus/impeccable@d14711ae3d (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/160b1c328892d1a2. Report an issue: GitHub.