fix: clarify actor not found error when ID is explicitly provided by kuntal1461 · Pull Request #1337 · apify/apify-cli

kuntal1461 · 2026-08-19T14:13:12Z

What changed

Extracted formatActorContextError(reason, actorId) helper in resolve-actor-context.ts
When actorId is provided, error omits "run in an Actor directory / specify the Actor ID" suggestions and instead hints at token/permission access
When no actorId is provided, original fallback message is preserved
Applied to all four affected commands: actors info, builds create, builds ls, runs ls

Why

The old message suggested the user specify an Actor ID even when they already had — misleading when the real cause is a token with no access to an org Actor.

Test

Added unit tests for formatActorContextError in test/unit/lib/commands/resolve-actor-context.test.ts covering both the ID-provided and no-ID paths

Install size

No new dependencies added.

kuntal1461 · 2026-08-31T12:46:39Z

Hi @l2ysho, @DaveHanns, @patrikbraborec 👋

Just wanted to kindly check if you'd have a chance to review this PR when possible.

I'm happy to make any changes or address any feedback.

Thank you for your time!

l2ysho · 2026-09-01T14:28:46Z


+export function formatActorContextError(reason: string, providedActorNameOrId?: string) {
+	if (providedActorNameOrId) {
+		return `${reason}. Check that the Actor ID or name is correct and that your API token has permission to access it.`;


@patrikbraborec Are you ok with this message or you would like also mention organization as you do in a issue description?

l2ysho · 2026-09-01T14:46:19Z


 import { getLocalConfig, getLocalUserInfo } from '../utils.js';

+export function formatActorContextError(reason: string, providedActorNameOrId?: string) {


No need to create helper function just for 2 occurrences (especially when we need to decide which to show inside). We are completely fine to have these 2 messages inline as original.

l2ysho · 2026-09-01T14:53:27Z

@patrikbraborec btw similar problem also in builds ls, builds create, runs ls, maybe it is worth to fix all places, still feels pretty low priority

Remove formatActorContextError helper and inline the conditional message directly at each call site in actors info, builds create, builds ls, and runs ls. Drop the unit tests for the removed helper.

kuntal1461 · 2026-09-01T16:41:06Z

Thanks for the review @l2ysho!

Removed the formatActorContextError helper and inlined the conditional messages directly at each call site. Also dropped the unit tests for the removed helper.

Happy to adjust the error message wording once @patrikbraborec shares their thoughts on whether to mention the organization.

patrikbraborec · 2026-09-02T11:20:49Z

Thanks @kuntal1461. @szaganek - please can you review the text? Thanks!

szaganek

I'd suggest rephrasing the first message and getting rid of please.

szaganek · 2026-09-02T11:35:18Z

 		if (!ctx.valid) {
 			error({
-				message: `${ctx.reason}. Please specify the Actor ID.`,
+				message: `${ctx.reason}. Check that the Actor ID or name is correct and that your API token has permission to access it.`,


Suggested change

message: `${ctx.reason}. Check that the Actor ID or name is correct and that your API token has permission to access it.`,

message: `${ctx.reason}. Check that the ID or name is correct and that your API token has access to this Actor.`,

To avoid dangling it.

szaganek · 2026-09-02T11:41:48Z

 			error({
-				message: `${ctx.reason}. Please run this command in an Actor directory, or specify the Actor ID.`,
+				message: actorId
+					? `${ctx.reason}. Check that the Actor ID or name is correct and that your API token has permission to access it.`


Suggested change

? `${ctx.reason}. Check that the Actor ID or name is correct and that your API token has permission to access it.`

? `${ctx.reason}. Check that the ID or name is correct and that your API token has access to this Actor.`

szaganek · 2026-09-02T11:46:03Z

-				message: `${ctx.reason}. Please run this command in an Actor directory, or specify the Actor ID.`,
+				message: actorId
+					? `${ctx.reason}. Check that the Actor ID or name is correct and that your API token has permission to access it.`
+					: `${ctx.reason}. Please run this command in an Actor directory, or specify the Actor ID.`,


Suggested change

: `${ctx.reason}. Please run this command in an Actor directory, or specify the Actor ID.`,

: `${ctx.reason}. Run this command in an Actor directory, or specify the Actor ID.`,

szaganek · 2026-09-02T11:46:26Z

 			error({
-				message: `${ctx.reason}. Please run this command in an Actor directory, or specify the Actor ID.`,
+				message: actorId
+					? `${ctx.reason}. Check that the Actor ID or name is correct and that your API token has permission to access it.`


Suggested change

? `${ctx.reason}. Check that the Actor ID or name is correct and that your API token has permission to access it.`

? `${ctx.reason}. Check that the ID or name is correct and that your API token has access to this Actor.`

szaganek · 2026-09-02T11:46:41Z

-				message: `${ctx.reason}. Please run this command in an Actor directory, or specify the Actor ID.`,
+				message: actorId
+					? `${ctx.reason}. Check that the Actor ID or name is correct and that your API token has permission to access it.`
+					: `${ctx.reason}. Please run this command in an Actor directory, or specify the Actor ID.`,


Suggested change

: `${ctx.reason}. Please run this command in an Actor directory, or specify the Actor ID.`,

: `${ctx.reason}. Run this command in an Actor directory, or specify the Actor ID.`,

szaganek · 2026-09-02T11:46:52Z

 			error({
-				message: `${ctx.reason}. Please run this command in an Actor directory, or specify the Actor ID.`,
+				message: actorId
+					? `${ctx.reason}. Check that the Actor ID or name is correct and that your API token has permission to access it.`


Suggested change

? `${ctx.reason}. Check that the Actor ID or name is correct and that your API token has permission to access it.`

? `${ctx.reason}. Check that the ID or name is correct and that your API token has access to this Actor.`

szaganek · 2026-09-02T11:47:00Z

-				message: `${ctx.reason}. Please run this command in an Actor directory, or specify the Actor ID.`,
+				message: actorId
+					? `${ctx.reason}. Check that the Actor ID or name is correct and that your API token has permission to access it.`
+					: `${ctx.reason}. Please run this command in an Actor directory, or specify the Actor ID.`,


Suggested change

: `${ctx.reason}. Please run this command in an Actor directory, or specify the Actor ID.`,

: `${ctx.reason}. Run this command in an Actor directory, or specify the Actor ID.`,

- Replace "Actor ID or name" with "ID or name" (redundant in context) - Replace "permission to access it" with "has access to this Actor" (avoids dangling "it") - Remove "Please" from the no-actorId fallback message Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

kuntal1461 · 2026-09-02T12:05:08Z

Thanks @szaganek for the review!

Applied all suggestions:

Replaced Actor ID or name with ID or name (less redundant in context)
Replaced permission to access it with has access to this Actor (avoids the dangling "it")
Removed Please from the no-actorId fallback message

All four commands (actors info, builds create, builds ls, runs ls) are updated.

kuntal1461 requested review from DaveHanns and l2ysho as code owners August 19, 2026 14:13

kuntal1461 force-pushed the fix/actor-context-error-message branch from a0081de to cc3bc54 Compare August 19, 2026 14:18

l2ysho requested changes Sep 1, 2026

View reviewed changes

l2ysho requested a review from patrikbraborec September 1, 2026 14:52

kuntal1461 added 2 commits September 1, 2026 22:06

fix: clarify actor not found errors

4985cd1

refactor: inline actor context error messages per review feedback

aa99fbb

Remove formatActorContextError helper and inline the conditional message directly at each call site in actors info, builds create, builds ls, and runs ls. Drop the unit tests for the removed helper.

kuntal1461 force-pushed the fix/actor-context-error-message branch from cc3bc54 to aa99fbb Compare September 1, 2026 16:40

kuntal1461 requested a review from l2ysho September 1, 2026 17:12

patrikbraborec requested a review from szaganek September 2, 2026 11:20

szaganek reviewed Sep 2, 2026

View reviewed changes

kuntal1461 requested a review from szaganek September 2, 2026 12:06


		import { getLocalConfig, getLocalUserInfo } from '../utils.js';

		export function formatActorContextError(reason: string, providedActorNameOrId?: string) {

	message: `${ctx.reason}. Check that the Actor ID or name is correct and that your API token has permission to access it.`,
	message: `${ctx.reason}. Check that the ID or name is correct and that your API token has access to this Actor.`,

	? `${ctx.reason}. Check that the Actor ID or name is correct and that your API token has permission to access it.`
	? `${ctx.reason}. Check that the ID or name is correct and that your API token has access to this Actor.`

	: `${ctx.reason}. Please run this command in an Actor directory, or specify the Actor ID.`,
	: `${ctx.reason}. Run this command in an Actor directory, or specify the Actor ID.`,

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kuntal1461 commented Aug 19, 2026

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patrikbraborec commented Sep 2, 2026

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kuntal1461 commented Sep 2, 2026

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l2ysho Sep 1, 2026 •

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