Troubleshooting the Fluent CLI
How-to Guide
Author:
Jaime Madrid
Changed on:
3 Sept 2025
Key Points
- This section will detail a few common issues and troubleshooting options for Fluent CLI.
Steps
Unable to install Fluent CLI
Symptom: Error during the CLI installationWhen installing Fluent CLI, the `npm install` command fails due to an HTTPS certificate issue.The most common root cause on corporate laptops is that there is a security mechanism in place - like a locally installed agent or proxy - that decrypts the traffic from the official Fluent Download Server in order to inspect the contents and then re-encrypts the traffic before sending it to NPM. The encryption then is with a different certificate, one that NPM does not have access to. While this means that the downloaded contents from the Fluent Download Server may have been tempered with, given that this interception and inspection is a required corporate security step, it will need to be accepted and worked around on a case-by-case basis.Note that you will also encounter the same root cause when running the Fluent CLI. See the next FAQ entry for a resolution!Resolution: Disable SSL verification globally for all Node.js applications using npmRun the following command and then re-execute the installation step `npm install ...`Make sure to turn back on the certificate validation when done with the installation!Fluent CLI command fails
Issue: AxiosError when running the Fluent CLI commandWhen executing a Fluent CLI command, it fails with a `API Error: AxiosError`This is a continuation of the symptom you will have encountered when installing the Fluent CLI.The most common root cause on corporate laptops is that there is a security mechanism in place - like a locally installed agent or proxy - that decrypts the traffic from the official Fluent Download Server in order to inspect the contents and then re-encrypts the traffic before sending it to NPM. The encryption then is with a different certificate, one that NPM does not have access to. While this means that the downloaded contents from the Fluent Download Server may have been tempered with, given that this interception and inspection is a required corporate security step, it will need to be accepted and worked around on a case-by-case basis.Resolution: Disable certificate validation for HTTPS connectionsAdd the `NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED` environment variable and then re-execute the Fluent CLI command. This setting disables the SSL certificate checks for the current terminal session. Given the potential security impact it is recommended to use this setting selectively.
