python/cpython · error

need to specify the name, input and output paths

Error message

need to specify the name, input and output paths

What it means

Usage error from Programs/_freeze_module.c's main(): the program takes exactly three positional arguments (frozen module name, input source path, output C path) and argc != 4 (program + 3 args) means it was invoked with the wrong number of arguments; it prints this usage line and exits with status 2.

Source

Thrown at Programs/_freeze_module.c:230

        return -1;
    }
    fclose(outfile);
    return 0;
}

int
main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    const char *name, *inpath, *outpath;

    _PyImport_FrozenBootstrap = no_modules;
    _PyImport_FrozenStdlib = no_modules;
    _PyImport_FrozenTest = no_modules;
    PyImport_FrozenModules = NULL;
    _PyImport_FrozenAliases = aliases;

    if (argc != 4) {
        fprintf(stderr, "need to specify the name, input and output paths\n");
        return 2;
    }
    name = argv[1];
    inpath = argv[2];
    outpath = argv[3];

    runtime_init();

    const char *text = read_text(inpath);
    if (text == NULL) {
        goto error;
    }

    PyObject *marshalled = compile_and_marshal(name, text);
    free((char *)text);
    if (marshalled == NULL) {
        goto error;
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to bc6749cc3b)

Solutions

1. Invoke with exactly three args: `_freeze_module <name> <inpath> <outpath>`
2. Inspect the failing command line in the build log and fix the empty/missing variable
3. Copy the exact command from the Makefile rule rather than retyping it

# shell: enforce the exact freezer signature before running
# freeze() { [ $# -eq 3 ] || { echo 'usage: freeze NAME IN OUT' >&2; return 2; }; ./_freeze_module "$@"; }

When it happens

Trigger: Running `_freeze_module name in.py` (missing out path), with extra args, or with none; build scripts/regen targets constructed with a missing variable so the command line degenerates.

Common situations: Manually reproducing a freeze step from a Makefile line and dropping an argument; build system variable (e.g. $OUT) empty so the word count is short; wrapper scripts mangling quoting so args merge or split.

Related errors

• cannot open '%s' for reading
• cannot fstat '%s'
• could not allocate %ld bytes
• read too short: got %ld instead of %ld bytes
• cannot open '%s' for writing

AI-assisted analysis of python/cpython@bc6749cc3b (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6012820be32aecbe. Report an issue: GitHub.