yarnpkg/yarn · error · MessageError

tooFewArguments

Error message

tooFewArguments

What it means

Thrown by 'yarn unplug' when the --clear flag is supplied but no positional package args are given (args.length === 0). --clear targets specific packages, so omitting them is ambiguous.

Source

Thrown at src/cli/commands/unplug.js:30

export function hasWrapper(commander: Object): boolean {
  return true;
}

export function setFlags(commander: Object) {
  commander.description(
    'Temporarily copies a package (with an optional @range suffix) outside of the global cache for debugging purposes',
  );
  commander.usage('unplug [packages ...] [flags]');
  commander.option('--clear', 'Delete the selected packages');
  commander.option('--clear-all', 'Delete all unplugged packages');
}

export async function run(config: Config, reporter: Reporter, flags: Object, args: Array<string>): Promise<void> {
  if (!config.plugnplayEnabled) {
    throw new MessageError(reporter.lang('unplugDisabled'));
  }
  if (!args.length && flags.clear) {
    throw new MessageError(reporter.lang('tooFewArguments', 1));
  }
  if (args.length && flags.clearAll) {
    throw new MessageError(reporter.lang('noArguments'));
  }

  if (flags.clearAll) {
    await clearAll(config);
  } else if (flags.clear) {
    await clearSome(config, new Set(args));
  } else if (args.length > 0) {
    const lockfile = await Lockfile.fromDirectory(config.lockfileFolder, reporter);
    await wrapLifecycle(config, flags, async () => {
      const install = new Install(flags, config, reporter, lockfile);
      install.linker.unplugged = args;
      await install.init();
    });
  }

View on GitHub (pinned to c2dda503f3)

Solutions

1. Add one or more package names: 'yarn unplug --clear <pkg> [<pkg>...]'.
2. If you meant to clear all unplugged packages, use '--clear-all' instead of '--clear'.

Example fix

# before
$ yarn unplug --clear
# after
$ yarn unplug --clear lodash
# or
$ yarn unplug --clear-all

if (flags.clear && (!Array.isArray(args) || args.length === 0)) {
  throw new Error("'--clear' requires at least one package name; use '--clear-all' to clear everything.");
}

function hasClearTargets(flags: Object, args: string[]): boolean {
  return Boolean(flags.clear) && args.length > 0;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running 'yarn unplug --clear' with no package names, so the condition (!args.length && flags.clear) is true.

Common situations: User expects --clear to clear everything (that is --clear-all); forgot to list which packages to clear.

Related errors

• noArguments
• invalidPackageName
• requiredVersionInRange
• invalidVersionArgument
• invalidVersion

AI-assisted analysis of yarnpkg/yarn@c2dda503f3 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b534e2c536093610. Report an issue: GitHub.