saadeghi/daisyui · error · Error

stdin must be JSON with html and css strings: ${error.messag

Error message

stdin must be JSON with html and css strings: ${error.message}

What it means

When stdin is not a TTY and html/css are still undefined, the script reads stdin, trims it, and tries JSON.parse. If parse throws, it re-throws with the parser's error message attached. The expected shape is an object with html and css string fields.

Source

Thrown at packages/tailwind-play-share/index.mjs:156

async function resolveInput(options) {
  let html = options.html
  let css = options.css

  if (options.htmlFile !== undefined) {
    html = await readFile(resolve(options.htmlFile), "utf8")
  }
  if (options.cssFile !== undefined) {
    css = await readFile(resolve(options.cssFile), "utf8")
  }

  if (html === undefined && css === undefined && !process.stdin.isTTY) {
    const stdin = (await readStdin()).trim()
    if (stdin) {
      let parsed
      try {
        parsed = JSON.parse(stdin)
      } catch (error) {
        throw new Error(`stdin must be JSON with html and css strings: ${error.message}`)
      }
      html = parsed.html
      css = parsed.css
    }
  }

  if (html === undefined && css === undefined) {
    throw new Error("Provide HTML/CSS using arguments, files, or JSON on stdin")
  }
  if (html !== undefined && typeof html !== "string") {
    throw new Error("html must be a string")
  }
  if (css !== undefined && typeof css !== "string") {
    throw new Error("css must be a string")
  }

  return { html: html ?? "", css: css ?? "" }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 42b09e637e)

Solutions

1. Pipe a valid JSON object: `{"html":"...","css":"..."}`.
2. Strip any prefix/suffix lines around the JSON before piping.
3. If you only have raw text, use --html/--css or --html-file/--css-file instead of stdin.

Example fix

# before
echo '<div>hi</div>' | bun .../index.mjs
# after
echo '{"html":"<div>hi</div>","css":""}' | bun .../index.mjs

function tryParseJson(stdin) {
  try { return JSON.parse(stdin) } catch { return undefined }
}

const looksLikeJson = (s) => { const t = s.trim(); return t.startsWith('{') && t.endsWith('}') }

try {
  parsed = JSON.parse(stdin)
} catch (error) {
  throw new Error(`stdin must be JSON with html and css strings: ${error.message}`)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Piping non-JSON text (raw HTML, CSS, or prose); malformed JSON (trailing comma, single quotes, unquoted keys); a leading BOM or log prefix before the JSON.

Common situations: echo'ing HTML directly into the pipe without wrapping in JSON; a CI step that prepends a timestamp line; JSON produced by a tool that emits comments.

Related errors

• html must be a string
• css must be a string
• ${flag} requires a value
• Unknown option: ${argument}
• Too many positional arguments

AI-assisted analysis of saadeghi/daisyui@42b09e637e (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6f9bac95ab0cc187. Report an issue: GitHub.