zylon-ai/private-gpt · warning

Unknown command: {cmd!r}

Error message

Unknown command: {cmd!r}

What it means

CLI error from private_gpt/cli/main.py's pre-dispatch guard. If sys.argv[1] is a non-flag token not in _KNOWN_COMMANDS (serve, run, help), the CLI prints 'Unknown command: <cmd>' — with a 'Did you mean' suggestion via difflib when a close match exists — and exits 1 before Typer's app() runs. This exists to give fast, Typer-independent typo feedback.

Source

Thrown at private_gpt/cli/main.py:67

_KNOWN_COMMANDS = ["serve", "run", "help"]
if _CELERY_AVAILABLE:
    _KNOWN_COMMANDS.append("worker")


def main() -> None:
    if len(sys.argv) > 1:
        cmd = sys.argv[1]
        if not cmd.startswith("-") and cmd not in _KNOWN_COMMANDS:
            matches = difflib.get_close_matches(cmd, _KNOWN_COMMANDS, n=1, cutoff=0.6)
            if matches:
                typer.echo(
                    f"Unknown command: {cmd!r}. Did you mean: {matches[0]!r}?",
                    err=True,
                )
            else:
                typer.echo(f"Unknown command: {cmd!r}", err=True)
            raise SystemExit(1)
    app()


if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

View on GitHub (pinned to 4a030776a3)

Solutions

1. Use a known command: `private-gpt serve`, `private-gpt run`, or `private-gpt help`.
2. Read the suggestion in the error output — difflib usually proposes the intended command.
3. Run `private-gpt --help` (a flag, so it bypasses the guard) to list available commands for your version.
4. Update scripts after upgrading to a CLI whose command set changed.

Example fix

// before
$ private-gpt sevre
Unknown command: 'sevre'. Did you mean: 'serve'?

// after
$ private-gpt serve

import subprocess

KNOWN = {"serve", "run", "help"}
cmd = "sevre"
if cmd not in KNOWN:
    import difflib
    suggestion = difflib.get_close_matches(cmd, KNOWN, n=1)
    raise SystemExit(f"Unknown command {cmd!r}{f', did you mean {suggestion[0]!r}?' if suggestion else ''}")

When it happens

Trigger: Running `private-gpt sevre` (typo, suggests 'serve'), `private-gpt start`, or any subcommand name that is not literally serve/run/help. Flags like --help pass through untouched.

Common situations: Typos and muscle memory from other CLIs (`start`, `init`, `chat`); scripts pinned to an old CLI version whose command set changed; copy-pasting docs for a different tool.

Related errors

• Binary not found in PATH: {binary!r}
• Server is already running with PID {existing_pid}
• Server did not become ready within {_HEALTH_TIMEOUT}s
• Tokenizer mode {tokenizer_mode} not found.
• Unexpected kwargs: {kwargs}

AI-assisted analysis of zylon-ai/private-gpt@4a030776a3 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3dc81953c54814e4. Report an issue: GitHub.