What causes "--lineage-depth requires at least two --worktrees" in stablyai/orca?

Increase --worktrees to at least 2 when using --lineage-depth.

stablyai/orca · error · Error

--lineage-depth requires at least two --worktrees

Error message

--lineage-depth requires at least two --worktrees

What it means

Thrown by parseArgs when --lineage-depth is greater than 0 but --worktrees is less than 2. A lineage nest needs multiple worktrees to chain; a single worktree cannot express depth, so the combination is nonsensical.

Source

Thrown at config/scripts/run-idle-cpu-benchmark.mjs:133

      throw new Error(`Invalid --${key}: ${options[key]}`)
    }
  }
  options.worktrees = Math.max(1, Math.floor(options.worktrees))
  options.intervalMs = Math.max(250, Math.floor(options.intervalMs))
  options.lineageDepth = Math.floor(options.lineageDepth)
  options.agentsPerWorktree = Math.floor(options.agentsPerWorktree)
  options.zustandPublications = Math.floor(options.zustandPublications)
  options.zustandPublicationIntervalMs = Math.max(
    1,
    Math.floor(options.zustandPublicationIntervalMs)
  )
  options.syntheticVisibleSpinners = Math.max(0, Math.floor(options.syntheticVisibleSpinners))
  options.syntheticSpinnerSteps = Math.max(1, Math.floor(options.syntheticSpinnerSteps))
  if (!['smooth', 'steps'].includes(options.syntheticSpinnerAnimation)) {
    throw new Error(`Invalid --synthetic-spinner-animation: ${options.syntheticSpinnerAnimation}`)
  }
  if (options.lineageDepth > 0 && options.worktrees < 2) {
    throw new Error('--lineage-depth requires at least two --worktrees')
  }
  const publicationSpanMs =
    Math.max(0, options.zustandPublications - 1) * options.zustandPublicationIntervalMs
  if (publicationSpanMs > options.sampleMs) {
    throw new Error(
      `Zustand publication span ${publicationSpanMs}ms exceeds --sample-ms ${options.sampleMs}`
    )
  }
  return options
}
function printUsage() {
  console.log(
    `Usage: node config/scripts/run-idle-cpu-benchmark.mjs [options]\n\nOptions:\n  --warmup-ms <n>    Time to wait after app readiness before sampling (default ${DEFAULT_WARMUP_MS})\n  --sample-ms <n>    Sampling window duration (default ${DEFAULT_SAMPLE_MS})\n  --interval-ms <n>  Sampling cadence (default ${DEFAULT_INTERVAL_MS})\n  --worktrees <n>    Seed repo worktree count, including primary (default ${DEFAULT_WORKTREE_COUNT})\n  --lineage-depth <n>  Nest all worktrees under one expanded lineage, up to this depth\n  --agents-per-worktree <n>  Seed this many visible inline agent rows per worktree\n  --zustand-publications <n>  Publish exactly this many store updates during sampling\n  --zustand-publication-interval-ms <n>  Publication cadence (default ${DEFAULT_ZUSTAND_PUBLICATION_INTERVAL_MS})\n  --headful          Show the Electron window while measuring\n  --skip-build       Reuse out/main/index.js instead of building first\n  --output <path>    Write JSON report to this path\n  --disable-renderer-animations  Inject measurement-only CSS that disables animations/transitions\n  --synthetic-visible-spinners <n>  Measurement-only: add visible working spinners\n  --synthetic-spinner-animation <smooth|steps>  Spinner animation style (default smooth)\n  --synthetic-spinner-steps <n>  Step count for --synthetic-spinner-animation steps (default 12)\n`
  )
}
function run(command, args, options = {}) {
  execFileSync(command, args, { stdio: options.stdio ?? 'pipe', encoding: 'utf8', ...options })
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 1136503c6a)

Solutions

Increase --worktrees to at least 2 when using --lineage-depth.
Set --lineage-depth 0 (or omit it) if you only want a single worktree.

Example fix

# before
node config/scripts/run-idle-cpu-benchmark.mjs --lineage-depth 3
# after
node config/scripts/run-idle-cpu-benchmark.mjs --worktrees 3 --lineage-depth 3

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if (options.lineageDepth > 0 && options.worktrees < 2) {
  throw new Error('--lineage-depth requires at least two --worktrees')
}

Type guard

function lineageConfigured(options) {
  return options.lineageDepth === 0 || options.worktrees >= 2
}

Try / catch

try {
  options = parseArgs(argv)
} catch (err) {
  if (/lineage-depth requires/.test(err.message)) { printUsage(); process.exit(2) }
  throw err
}

Prevention

Validate cross-option constraints in a single post-parse pass and name the dependency.
Document that lineage-depth implies a multi-worktree topology.

When it happens

Trigger: Passing --lineage-depth 3 with the default --worktrees (1), or explicitly --worktrees 1 --lineage-depth 2.

Common situations: Forgetting to raise --worktrees when enabling lineage, copy-pasting lineage options from a multi-worktree profile.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of stablyai/orca@1136503c6a (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2fe7d5fbf0aeb383. Report an issue: GitHub.