phacility/phabricator · warning · PhutilArgumentUsageException

Choose an archival mode with --mode.

Error message

Choose an archival mode with --mode.

What it means

Usage error from the `bin harbormaster archive-logs` management workflow: the --mode argument is required and was not supplied. The command iterates every HarbormasterBuildLog and rewrites its storage, so an explicit mode (plain or compress) is mandatory.

Solutions

1. Run with an explicit mode: `./bin/phabricator harbormaster archive-logs --mode compress` (or --mode plain).
2. Check the command's help (`--help`) for the current flag names.
3. Fix the wrapper/cron line so the flag survives shell quoting.

Example fix

# before
./bin/phabricator harbormaster archive-logs

# after
./bin/phabricator harbormaster archive-logs --mode compress

$mode = $argv['mode'] ?? null;
if ($mode === null || $mode === '') {
  fwrite(STDERR, "Usage: archive-logs --mode plain|compress\n");
  exit(64);
}

function isValidArchiveMode($mode) {
  return in_array($mode, array('plain', 'compress'), true);
}

try {
  runArchiveLogs($args);
} catch (PhutilArgumentUsageException $e) {
  fwrite(STDERR, $e->getMessage()."\n");
  exit(64); // conventional usage-error exit code
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `./bin/phabricator harbormaster archive-logs` (or the arc/binary equivalent) with no arguments; running it with only auxiliary flags like --details or --verbose; a wrapper script/cron that drops the flag.

Common situations: First-time use of the archival command from docs; cron entries written before the flag was added; copy-pasting a command that used an older syntax.

Related errors

• Unknown mode " ". Valid modes are: .
• Argument " " does not name a buildable. Provide one or more…
• Build plan " " does not exist.
• Log data hashes differ! Something is tragically wrong!
• Name one or more buildables to publish, like "B123".

AI-assisted analysis of phacility/phabricator@5720a38cfe (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b482ad96172f1041. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/applications/harbormaster/management/HarbormasterManagementArchiveLogsWorkflow.php:34

            'help' => pht(
              'Use "plain" to remove encoding, or "compress" to compress '.
              'logs.'),
          ),
          array(
            'name' => 'details',
            'help' => pht(
              'Show more details about operations as they are performed. '.
              'Slow! But also very reassuring!'),
          ),
        ));
  }

  public function execute(PhutilArgumentParser $args) {
    $viewer = $this->getViewer();

    $mode = $args->getArg('mode');
    if (!$mode) {
      throw new PhutilArgumentUsageException(
        pht('Choose an archival mode with --mode.'));
    }

    $valid_modes = array(
      'plain',
      'compress',
    );

    $valid_modes = array_fuse($valid_modes);
    if (empty($valid_modes[$mode])) {
      throw new PhutilArgumentUsageException(
        pht(
          'Unknown mode "%s". Valid modes are: %s.',
          $mode,
          implode(', ', $valid_modes)));
    }

    $log_table = new HarbormasterBuildLog();

View on GitHub (pinned to 5720a38cfe)