phacility/phabricator · warning · PhutilArgumentUsageException

Specify exactly one file to print, like "%s".

Error message

Specify exactly one file to print, like "%s".

What it means

The `./bin/files cat` workflow takes a single file name as its wildcard argument; passing more than one name is rejected as a usage error before anything is read. The message suggests the F123 monogram form. Each invocation prints exactly one file's bytes.

Source

Thrown at src/applications/files/management/PhabricatorFilesManagementCatWorkflow.php:41

            'name' => 'salvage',
            'help' => pht(
              'DANGEROUS. Attempt to salvage file content even if the '.
              'integrity check fails. If an adversary has tampered with '.
              'the file, the content may be unsafe.'),
          ),
          array(
            'name'      => 'names',
            'wildcard'  => true,
          ),
        ));
  }

  public function execute(PhutilArgumentParser $args) {
    $console = PhutilConsole::getConsole();

    $names = $args->getArg('names');
    if (count($names) > 1) {
      throw new PhutilArgumentUsageException(
        pht('Specify exactly one file to print, like "%s".', 'F123'));
    } else if (!$names) {
      throw new PhutilArgumentUsageException(
        pht('Specify a file to print, like "%s".', 'F123'));
    }

    $file = head($this->loadFilesWithNames($names));

    $begin = $args->getArg('begin');
    $end = $args->getArg('end');

    $file->makeEphemeral();

    // If we're running in "salvage" mode, wipe out any integrity hash which
    // may be present. This makes us read file data without performing an
    // integrity check.
    $salvage = $args->getArg('salvage');
    if ($salvage) {

View on GitHub (pinned to 5720a38cfe)

Solutions

1. Print one file per invocation, or loop in the shell: `for f in F123 F456; do ./bin/files cat "$f"; done`
2. Quote arguments so a single name is passed unexpanded

Example fix

# before
./bin/files cat F123 F456

# after
for f in F123 F456; do ./bin/files cat "$f"; done

# In shell scripts, enforce the single-argument contract before invoking:
[ $# -eq 1 ] || { echo 'usage: dump.sh <file-monogram>' >&2; exit 2; }
./bin/files cat "$1"

When it happens

Trigger: Running `./bin/files cat F123 F456`; passing a glob the shell expanded into multiple names.

Common situations: Scripting bulk extraction and assuming cat is variadic like `cat(1)`; unquoted shell globs expanding unexpectedly.

Related errors

• This storage format ("%s") does not support key selection.
• Specify a file to print, like "%s".
• Use --as <format> to select a target encoding format. Availa
• Storage format "%s" is not valid. Available formats are: %s.
• You must specify the path to a public keyfile with %s.

AI-assisted analysis of phacility/phabricator@5720a38cfe (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d14e2002340b6290. Report an issue: GitHub.