puppetlabs/puppet · error · CommandlineError

--%{value0} conflicts with --%{value1}

Error message

--%{value0} conflicts with --%{value1}

What it means

Constraints registered with conflicts(*syms) are evaluated at trollop.rb:408: when two different members of a conflicts group were both given on the command line, parse raises CommandlineError '--x conflicts with --y'. The check only fires when at least one member was actually supplied — mutually exclusive options that merely have defaults never conflict, and giving the same option twice is caught earlier by the multiple-times check.

Source

Thrown at lib/puppet/util/command_line/trollop.rb:408

        num_params_taken
      end

      if handle_help_and_version
        ## check for version and help args
        raise VersionNeeded if given_args.include? :version
        raise HelpNeeded if given_args.include? :help
      end

      ## check constraint satisfaction
      @constraints.each do |type, syms|
        constraint_sym = syms.find { |sym| given_args[sym] }
        next unless constraint_sym

        case type
        when :depends
          syms.each { |sym| raise CommandlineError, _("--%{value0} requires --%{value1}") % { value0: @specs[constraint_sym][:long], value1: @specs[sym][:long] } unless given_args.include? sym }
        when :conflicts
          syms.each { |sym| raise CommandlineError, _("--%{value0} conflicts with --%{value1}") % { value0: @specs[constraint_sym][:long], value1: @specs[sym][:long] } if given_args.include?(sym) && (sym != constraint_sym) }
        end
      end

      required.each do |sym, _val|
        raise CommandlineError, _("option --%{opt} must be specified") % { opt: @specs[sym][:long] } unless given_args.include? sym
      end

      ## parse parameters
      given_args.each do |sym, given_data|
        arg = given_data[:arg]
        params = given_data[:params]

        opts = @specs[sym]
        raise CommandlineError, _("option '%{arg}' needs a parameter") % { arg: arg } if params.empty? && opts[:type] != :flag

        vals["#{sym}_given".intern] = true # mark argument as specified on the commandline

        case opts[:type]

View on GitHub (pinned to e227c27540)

Solutions

1. Remove one of the two conflicting flags named in the message
2. Pick the single mode or format you actually want
3. As the developer, replace conflicting booleans with one enumerated option (e.g. `--format xml|json`)

Example fix

# before (tool declared conflicts :xml, :json)
$ mytool --xml --json
Error: --xml conflicts with --json

# after
$ mytool --xml

# Check conflicts groups before parse
constraints = parser.instance_variable_get(:@constraints)
given = argv.map { |t| t[/^--no-?(.+)/, 1]&.tr('-', '_')&.to_sym }.compact
constraints.select { |type, _| type == :conflicts }.each do |_, syms|
  both = syms & given
  abort "Mutually exclusive options: --#{both.map { |s| s.to_s.tr('_', '-') }.join(' --')}" if both.size > 1
end

begin
  opts = parser.parse(argv)
rescue Puppet::Util::CommandLine::Trollop::CommandlineError => e
  raise unless e.message.include?(' conflicts with --')
  loser = e.message[/^--(.+?) conflicts/, 1]
  warn "#{e.message} - dropping --#{loser} and keeping the explicit choice"
  opts = parser.parse(argv.reject { |t| t == "--#{loser}" })
end

When it happens

Trigger: A tool that declared `conflicts :xml, :json` invoked as `mytool --xml --json`; combining an alias flag with the flag it aliases when both sit in one conflicts group.

Common situations: Mutually exclusive output formats or execution modes (verbose/quiet, dry-run/apply); users chaining flags taken from different examples or recipes.

Related errors

• unknown option '%{sym}'
• --%{value0} requires --%{value1}
• unsupported argument type '%{value0}'
• :type specification and default type don't match (default ty
• invalid long option name %{name}

AI-assisted analysis of puppetlabs/puppet@e227c27540 (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1478605eb51bd129. Report an issue: GitHub.