phacility/phabricator · warning · PhutilArgumentUsageException

Specify the name of exactly one object to unlock.

Error message

Specify the name of exactly one object to unlock.

What it means

The unlock workflow processes one object per invocation; passing two or more names (count($object_names) > 1) throws this usage exception immediately after the empty check.

Source

Thrown at src/applications/policy/management/PhabricatorPolicyManagementUnlockWorkflow.php:58

            'help' => pht(
              'Change the owner of an object to the specified user.'),
          ),
          array(
            'name' => 'objects',
            'wildcard' => true,
          ),
        ));
  }

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

    $object_names = $args->getArg('objects');
    if (!$object_names) {
      throw new PhutilArgumentUsageException(
        pht('Specify the name of an object to unlock.'));
    } else if (count($object_names) > 1) {
      throw new PhutilArgumentUsageException(
        pht('Specify the name of exactly one object to unlock.'));
    }

    $object_name = head($object_names);

    $object = id(new PhabricatorObjectQuery())
      ->setViewer($viewer)
      ->withNames(array($object_name))
      ->executeOne();
    if (!$object) {
      throw new PhutilArgumentUsageException(
        pht(
          'Unable to find any object with the specified name ("%s").',
          $object_name));
    }

    $view_user = $this->loadUser($args->getArg('view'));
    $edit_user = $this->loadUser($args->getArg('edit'));

View on GitHub (pinned to 5720a38cfe)

Solutions

1. Run the command once per object with exactly one name, then add the --view/--edit/--owner flags.

Example fix

# before
./bin/policy unlock T1 T2 --edit alice
# after
./bin/policy unlock T1 --edit alice && ./bin/policy unlock T2 --edit alice

#!/bin/sh
objs="$1"; shift
[ -n "$objs" ] && [ $# -eq 0 ] || { echo 'exactly one object name allowed' >&2; exit 64; }
exec ./bin/policy unlock "$objs" "$@"

When it happens

Trigger: Running ./bin/policy unlock T1 T2, or a shell glob expanding to several monograms.

Common situations: Batch rescue attempts that must be split into one call per object.

Related errors

• Specify the name of exactly one object to show policy inform
• Specify the name of an object to unlock.
• Choose which capabilities to unlock with "--view", "--edit",
• You must specify the path to a public keyfile with %s.
• You must specify the path to a pkcs8 keyfile with %s.

AI-assisted analysis of phacility/phabricator@5720a38cfe (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0285ce0d1788b27f. Report an issue: GitHub.