yiisoft/yii2 · error · yii\console\Exception

Unknown alias: -{name}

Error message

Unknown alias: -{name}

What it means

Error "Unknown alias: -{name}" thrown in yiisoft/yii2.

Source

Thrown at framework/console/Controller.php:143

            $options = $this->options($id === '' ? $this->defaultAction : $id);
            if (isset($params['_aliases'])) {
                $optionAliases = $this->optionAliases();
                foreach ($params['_aliases'] as $name => $value) {
                    if (array_key_exists($name, $optionAliases)) {
                        $params[$optionAliases[$name]] = $value;
                    } else {
                        $message = Yii::t('yii', 'Unknown alias: -{name}', ['name' => $name]);
                        if (!empty($optionAliases)) {
                            $aliasesAvailable = [];
                            foreach ($optionAliases as $alias => $option) {
                                $aliasesAvailable[] = '-' . $alias . ' (--' . $option . ')';
                            }

                            $message .= '. ' . Yii::t('yii', 'Aliases available: {aliases}', [
                                'aliases' => implode(', ', $aliasesAvailable)
                            ]);
                        }
                        throw new Exception($message);
                    }
                }
                unset($params['_aliases']);
            }
            foreach ($params as $name => $value) {
                // Allow camelCase options to be entered in kebab-case
                if (!in_array($name, $options, true) && strpos($name, '-') !== false) {
                    $kebabName = $name;
                    $altName = lcfirst(Inflector::id2camel($kebabName));
                    if (in_array($altName, $options, true)) {
                        $name = $altName;
                    }
                }

                if (in_array($name, $options, true)) {
                    $default = $this->$name;
                    if (is_array($default) && is_string($value)) {
                        $this->$name = preg_split('/\s*,\s*(?![^()]*\))/', $value);

View on GitHub (pinned to 66f00d18a2)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at framework/console/Controller.php:143 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of yiisoft/yii2@66f00d18a2 (2026-08-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/14505d57c15310cc. Report an issue: GitHub.