phacility/phabricator · warning · PhutilArgumentUsageException

Use the '%s' flag to specify one or more messages to show.

Error message

Use the '%s' flag to specify one or more messages to show.

What it means

`bin/mail show-outbound` requires at least one message ID via the repeatable `--id` flag; the workflow throws PhutilArgumentUsageException before any database access when the list is empty. Outbound IDs are the numeric IDs of PhabricatorMetaMTAMail rows (sent mail).

Source

Thrown at src/applications/metamta/management/PhabricatorMailManagementShowOutboundWorkflow.php:34

            'param'   => 'id',
            'help'    => pht('Show details about outbound mail with given ID.'),
            'repeat'  => true,
          ),
          array(
            'name' => 'dump-html',
            'help' => pht(
              'Dump the HTML body of the mail. You can redirect it to a '.
              'file and then open it in a browser.'),
          ),
        ));
  }

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

    $ids = $args->getArg('id');
    if (!$ids) {
      throw new PhutilArgumentUsageException(
        pht(
          "Use the '%s' flag to specify one or more messages to show.",
          '--id'));
    }

    foreach ($ids as $id) {
      if (!ctype_digit($id)) {
        throw new PhutilArgumentUsageException(
          pht(
            'Argument "%s" is not a valid message ID.',
            $id));
      }
    }

    $messages = id(new PhabricatorMetaMTAMail())->loadAllWhere(
      'id IN (%Ld)',
      $ids);

View on GitHub (pinned to 5720a38cfe)

Solutions

1. Pass one or more IDs: `bin/mail show-outbound --id 456`.
2. Get IDs from the web UI's sent-mail (MetaMTAMail) list or from daemon transaction logs.
3. Assert non-empty ID lists in automation before invoking the workflow.

Example fix

// before
$ bin/mail show-outbound
// Exception: Use the '--id' flag to specify one or more messages to show.

// after
$ bin/mail show-outbound --id 456 --dump-html

if (empty($ids)) {
  fwrite(STDERR, "show-outbound requires one or more --id values.\n");
  exit(1);
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running show-outbound with no arguments; empty ID list from a script; passing flags like --subject that this workflow does not accept.

Common situations: Exploratory runs; scripts built around a queue that turned out empty.

Related errors

• Message type "%s" is unknown, supported message types are: %
• Specify one or more users to send a message to with "--to" a
• Use the '%s' flag to specify one or more messages to show.
• Argument "%s" is not a valid message ID.
• No such user '%s' exists.

AI-assisted analysis of phacility/phabricator@5720a38cfe (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/00170cdac7a32926. Report an issue: GitHub.