phacility/phabricator · warning · PhutilArgumentUsageException

Specify "--enable" or "--disable", but not both.

Error message

Specify "--enable" or "--disable", but not both.

What it means

PhutilArgumentUsageException thrown by HeraldRuleManagementWorkflow when both --enable and --disable are passed. The two flags map to the same HeraldRuleDisableTransaction with opposite new-values, so passing both is contradictory; the workflow refuses rather than guessing an order.

Source

Thrown at src/applications/herald/management/HeraldRuleManagementWorkflow.php:64

    $rule = id(new HeraldRuleQuery())
      ->setViewer($viewer)
      ->withIDs(array($rule_id))
      ->executeOne();
    if (!$rule) {
      throw new PhutilArgumentUsageException(
        pht(
          'Unable to load Herald rule with ID or monogram "%s".',
          $rule_name));
    }

    $is_disable = $args->getArg('disable');
    $is_enable = $args->getArg('enable');

    $xactions = array();

    if ($is_disable && $is_enable) {
      throw new PhutilArgumentUsageException(
        pht(
          'Specify "--enable" or "--disable", but not both.'));
    } else if ($is_disable || $is_enable) {
      $xactions[] = $rule->getApplicationTransactionTemplate()
        ->setTransactionType(HeraldRuleDisableTransaction::TRANSACTIONTYPE)
        ->setNewValue($is_disable);
    }

    if (!$xactions) {
      throw new PhutilArgumentUsageException(
        pht(
          'Use flags to specify at least one edit to apply to the '.
          'rule (for example, use "--disable" to disable a rule).'));
    }

    $herald_phid = id(new PhabricatorHeraldApplication())->getPHID();

    $editor = $rule->getApplicationTransactionEditor()

View on GitHub (pinned to 5720a38cfe)

Solutions

1. Pass exactly one of the two flags: --disable to disable, --enable to enable.
2. In scripts, model the state as a single variable and emit one flag: [ "$STATE" = off ] && FLAG=--disable || FLAG=--enable.
3. Clear stale shell history edits before re-running the composed command.

Example fix

# before
bin/herald rule --rule H1 --enable --disable

# after
bin/herald rule --rule H1 --disable

$is_disable = (bool)$args->getArg('disable');
$is_enable = (bool)$args->getArg('enable');
if ($is_disable && $is_enable) {
  // reject before building transactions: exactly one flag allowed
}

function exactlyOneOf(/* bool ... */ $flags) {
  return count(array_filter($flags)) === 1;
}

try {
  $workflow->execute($args);
} catch (PhutilArgumentUsageException $ex) {
  // 'but not both' -> strip one flag and retry; state-changing ops are
  // still safe because the workflow refuses before applying anything
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running 'bin/herald rule --rule H1 --enable --disable'. The check is a simple $is_disable && $is_enable before any transaction is queued.

Common situations: Copy-pasted command lines accumulated flags from a previous invocation; scripts built by concatenating optional flags without mutual exclusion; muscle memory adding --disable while the command already contained --enable.

Related errors

• Specify a rule to edit with "--rule <id|monogram>".
• Use flags to specify at least one edit to apply to the rule
• Specify an object to test rules for with "--object".
• Specify a content type to run rules for. For this object, va
• Specify a device with --device.

AI-assisted analysis of phacility/phabricator@5720a38cfe (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9b1ee6b83e7222a9. Report an issue: GitHub.