phacility/phabricator · warning · PhutilArgumentUsageException

Specify a file to read parameters from with "--input".

Error message

Specify a file to read parameters from with "--input".

What it means

Usage guard in the Conduit call management workflow: the --input argument was omitted or empty, so there is no file from which to read the method parameters. execute() raises this until an input file is given.

Solutions

1. Create a JSON file for the parameters (an empty object file for parameterless methods) and pass it with --input.
2. For quick tests: printf '{}' > /tmp/params.json && ./bin/conduit call --method user.whoami --input /tmp/params.json.

Example fix

# before
$ ./bin/conduit call --method user.whoami
# after
$ echo '{}' > /tmp/params.json
$ ./bin/conduit call --method user.whoami --input /tmp/params.json

#!/bin/bash
INPUT="${INPUT:-/tmp/conduit-params.json}"
[ -f "$INPUT" ] || printf '{}' > "$INPUT"   # parameterless methods still need a file
./bin/conduit call --method "$METHOD" --input "$INPUT"

When it happens

Trigger: Running ./bin/conduit call --method user.whoami with no --input; guessing a different flag name like --params or --data.

Common situations: Assuming parameterless methods need no input file; migrating from arc call-conduit where stdin echo '{}' is the idiom.

Understand the failure class

Background: "no subcommand specified" and "... is required": CLI errors when a required argument is missing — this error's family across 13 libraries.

Related errors

• Specify a method to call with "--method".
• No Conduit method provided.
• No such user " " exists.
• Too many Conduit methods provided.
• Argument " " is not a valid message ID.

AI-assisted analysis of phacility/phabricator@5720a38cfe (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2ac911ef5c6955cc. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/applications/conduit/management/PhabricatorConduitCallManagementWorkflow.php:51

            'help' => pht(
              'Execute the call as the given user. (If omitted, the call will '.
              'be executed as an omnipotent user.)'),
          ),
        ));
  }

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

    $method = $args->getArg('method');
    if (!strlen($method)) {
      throw new PhutilArgumentUsageException(
        pht('Specify a method to call with "--method".'));
    }

    $input = $args->getArg('input');
    if (!strlen($input)) {
      throw new PhutilArgumentUsageException(
        pht('Specify a file to read parameters from with "--input".'));
    }

    $as = $args->getArg('as');
    if (strlen($as)) {
      $actor = id(new PhabricatorPeopleQuery())
        ->setViewer($viewer)
        ->withUsernames(array($as))
        ->executeOne();
      if (!$actor) {
        throw new PhutilArgumentUsageException(
          pht(
            'No such user "%s" exists.',
            $as));
      }

      // Allow inline generation of user caches for the user we're acting
      // as, since some calls may read user preferences.

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