What causes "missing value for --out" in tinyhumansai/openhuman?

Supply the output directory: `openhuman agent dump-all --out `.

missing value for --out

Error message

missing value for --out

What it means

Thrown by parse_dump_all_flags when `--out`/`-o` is the last token of `openhuman agent dump-all`, so args.get(i + 1) returns None. The flag consumes the next token as its value; there is none to consume.

Source

Thrown at src/core/agent_cli.rs:70

struct DumpAllFlags {
    out: PathBuf,
    workspace: Option<PathBuf>,
    model: Option<String>,
    verbose: bool,
}

fn parse_dump_all_flags(args: &[String]) -> Result<DumpAllFlags> {
    let mut out: Option<PathBuf> = None;
    let mut workspace: Option<PathBuf> = None;
    let mut model: Option<String> = None;
    let mut verbose = false;
    let mut i = 0usize;
    while i < args.len() {
        match args[i].as_str() {
            "--out" | "-o" => {
                out = Some(PathBuf::from(
                    args.get(i + 1)
                        .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("missing value for --out"))?,
                ));
                i += 2;
            }
            "--workspace" | "-w" => {
                workspace = Some(PathBuf::from(
                    args.get(i + 1)
                        .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("missing value for --workspace"))?,
                ));
                i += 2;
            }
            "--model" | "-m" => {
                model = Some(
                    args.get(i + 1)
                        .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("missing value for --model"))?
                        .clone(),
                );
                i += 2;
            }

View on GitHub (pinned to a221052e0d)

Solutions

Supply the output directory: `openhuman agent dump-all --out <dir>`.
In scripts, default the variable first: `OUT_DIR="${OUT_DIR:-./prompts}"` so the flag always gets a value.

Example fix

# before
openhuman agent dump-all --out

# after
openhuman agent dump-all --out ./agent-prompts

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// shell: ensure --out always has a value
OUT_DIR="${OUT_DIR:-./agent-prompts}"
openhuman agent dump-all --out "$OUT_DIR"

Try / catch

match run_agent_command(&args) {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("missing value for --out") => {
        eprintln!("usage: openhuman agent dump-all --out <dir> [options]");
    }
    other => other?,
}

Prevention

Always type the value immediately after --out.
Default output-directory variables in scripts before composing the command.
Quote variables so empty expansions are visible as missing values, not silent drops.

When it happens

Trigger: `openhuman agent dump-all --out` with nothing after it, or ending the command line with `-o`.

Common situations: Typing the command incrementally and forgetting the directory, or a shell script that appends `--out "$OUT_DIR"` with an unset variable expanding to nothing (unquoted/empty expansion leaves the flag dangling).

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of tinyhumansai/openhuman@a221052e0d (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/350cf936619413b1. Report an issue: GitHub.