stablyai/orca · error · Error

--trials must be a positive integer

Error message

--trials must be a positive integer

What it means

Thrown by parseArgs when options.trials is not an integer or is less than 1. The value is coerced via Number(value); non-numeric strings become NaN, and floats/zero/negatives are rejected. Trials drive how many times runTrial is invoked for median computation.

Source

Thrown at config/scripts/hang-watchdog-memory-benchmark.mjs:299

  const options = { boundary: '', trials: DEFAULT_TRIALS, output: '' }
  for (let index = 0; index < argv.length; index += 1) {
    const arg = argv[index]
    const value = argv[index + 1]
    if (arg === '--boundary' || arg === '--trials' || arg === '--output') {
      if (!value) {
        throw new Error(`Missing value for ${arg}`)
      }
      options[arg.slice(2)] = arg === '--trials' ? Number(value) : value
      index += 1
    } else {
      throw new Error(`Unknown argument: ${arg}`)
    }
  }
  if (!['child', 'worker'].includes(options.boundary)) {
    throw new Error('--boundary must be child or worker')
  }
  if (!Number.isInteger(options.trials) || options.trials < 1) {
    throw new Error('--trials must be a positive integer')
  }
  return options
}

function electronPath() {
  const requirePath = import.meta.resolve('electron')
  const electronModulePath = fileURLToPath(requirePath)
  return execFileSync(
    process.execPath,
    ['-e', `process.stdout.write(require(${JSON.stringify(electronModulePath)}))`],
    {
      encoding: 'utf8'
    }
  )
}

function runTrial(executable, boundary) {
  for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= MAX_LAUNCH_ATTEMPTS; attempt += 1) {

View on GitHub (pinned to 1136503c6a)

Solutions

1. Pass a positive integer: `--trials 7` (the default).
2. Validate the variable feeding --trials in CI before invoking the script.

Example fix

// before
node ... --boundary child --trials 3.5
// after
node ... --boundary child --trials 4

const trials = Number(options.trials)
if (!Number.isInteger(trials) || trials < 1) {
  throw new Error(`--trials must be a positive integer, got: ${options.trials}`)
}

const isPositiveInteger = (v: unknown): v is number => typeof v === 'number' && Number.isInteger(v) && v >= 1

When it happens

Trigger: Passing `--trials abc`, `--trials 3.5`, `--trials 0`, or `--trials -2`. Also fires on an empty string value.

Common situations: Typos, passing a trial count variable that resolved to empty in CI, or misunderstanding that the value must be a positive whole number.

Related errors

• Missing value for ${arg}
• Unknown argument: ${arg}
• --boundary must be child or worker
• Missing value for ${arg}
• Unknown argument: ${arg}

AI-assisted analysis of stablyai/orca@1136503c6a (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ea68df45f1ce57b9. Report an issue: GitHub.