prisma/prisma · error

Usage: pnpm start -- proximity-chain <t0> <d1> <t1> [<d2> <t

Error message

Usage: pnpm start -- proximity-chain <t0> <d1> <t1> [<d2> <t2> ...]

What it means

Thrown by parseProximityChainArgs in the paradedb-demo CLI when the argument count for the proximity-chain subcommand is wrong. It requires an odd count of at least 3 args (t0 d1 t1, optionally more d/t pairs), so any even count or fewer than 3 args triggers the usage error. This is the CLI's structural validation before any term/distance parsing.

Source

Thrown at examples/paradedb-demo/src/main.ts:19

import 'dotenv/config';
import { loadAppConfig } from './app-config';
import { ormClientBm25TopMatches } from './orm-client/bm25-top-matches';
import { db } from './prisma/db';
import { bm25CastDemo } from './queries/bm25-cast-demo';
import { bm25ChainDemo } from './queries/bm25-chain-demo';
import { bm25Fuzzy } from './queries/bm25-fuzzy';
import { bm25Match } from './queries/bm25-match';
import { bm25ModeTour } from './queries/bm25-mode-tour';
import { bm25Proximity } from './queries/bm25-proximity';
import { bm25ProximityChain, type ProximityChainStep } from './queries/bm25-proximity-chain';
import { bm25TopByScore } from './queries/bm25-top-by-score';

function parseProximityChainArgs(args: readonly string[]): {
  readonly start: string;
  readonly steps: readonly ProximityChainStep[];
} {
  if (args.length < 3 || args.length % 2 !== 1) {
    throw new Error('Usage: pnpm start -- proximity-chain <t0> <d1> <t1> [<d2> <t2> ...]');
  }
  const [start, ...rest] = args;
  if (start === undefined) {
    throw new Error('proximity-chain: <t0> is required');
  }
  const steps: ProximityChainStep[] = [];
  for (let i = 0; i < rest.length; i += 2) {
    const distRaw = rest[i];
    const term = rest[i + 1];
    if (distRaw === undefined || term === undefined) {
      throw new Error(
        `proximity-chain: trailing distance with no following term at position ${i + 1}`,
      );
    }
    const ordered = distRaw.startsWith('>');
    const distStr = ordered ? distRaw.slice(1) : distRaw;
    const distance = Number.parseInt(distStr, 10);
    if (!Number.isInteger(distance) || distance < 0) {

View on GitHub (pinned to 1243cdffbe)

Solutions

1. Provide an odd argument count >= 3: start term, then repeating distance+term pairs, e.g. `proximity-chain t0 1 t1`.
2. Add the missing term at the end, or remove a dangling distance, so total args are odd.
3. For longer chains, append pairs: `proximity-chain t0 1 t1 2 t2` (5 args).
4. Re-read the usage line and count your tokens before retrying.

Example fix

// before
$ pnpm start -- proximity-chain apples oranges
// after
$ pnpm start -- proximity-chain apples 2 oranges

const args = process.argv.slice(2).filter((a) => a !== '--');
if (args.length < 3 || args.length % 2 !== 1) {
  console.error('Usage: pnpm start -- proximity-chain <t0> <d1> <t1> [<d2> <t2> ...]');
  process.exit(1);
}
// now safe to call parseProximityChainArgs(args)

const isProximityArgShape = (a: readonly unknown[]): a is [string, ...string[]] =>
  a.length >= 3 && a.length % 2 === 1 && a.every((x) => typeof x === 'string');

try {
  const { start, steps } = parseProximityChainArgs(args);
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof Error && error.message.startsWith('Usage:')) {
    console.error(error.message);
    process.exit(1);
  }
  throw error;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Invoking `pnpm start -- proximity-chain ...` with fewer than 3 arguments or an even number of arguments. Examples: `proximity-chain foo`, `proximity-chain foo 1` (2 args), `proximity-chain foo 1 bar 2` (4 args).

Common situations: Omitting the trailing term, forgetting a distance, or pasting an incomplete chain. Users often try `proximity-chain term1 term2` expecting adjacency without specifying distances.

Related errors

• proximity-chain: distance at position ${i + 1} must be a non
• proximity-chain: <t0> is required
• proximity-chain: trailing distance with no following term at
• Invalid app configuration: ${message}
• embedding must be an array of numbers

AI-assisted analysis of prisma/prisma@1243cdffbe (2026-08-01). Data as JSON: /data/errors/97fb93578503632a.json. Report an issue: GitHub.