Incorrect error message when using the help subcommand with an argument

[Korne127]

Please complete the following tasks

• I have searched the discussions
• I have searched the open and rejected issues

Rust Version

rustc 1.91.1 (ed61e7d7e 2025-11-07)

Clap Version

4.5.53

Minimal reproducible code

#[derive(Parser)]
#[command()]
enum CommandExample {
	TestCommand
}

pub(crate) fn main() {
	CommandExample::parse();
}

Steps to reproduce the bug with the above code

cargo run -- help abc

Actual Behaviour

error: unrecognized subcommand 'abc'

Usage: cli

Expected Behaviour

Either displaying the normal help command like cargo run -- help would do:

Usage: cli

Commands:
test-command
help Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)

Options:
-h, --help Print help

Or displaying an accurate error message that the argument is unexpected like cargo run -- test-command abc would do:

error: unexpected argument 'abc' found

Usage: cli help

Additional Context

The given error message is inaccurate as this abc isn't a subcommand but an argument for the help subcommand (that shouldn't exist). I assume this is an edge case that hasn't been tested.

Debug Output

[epage]

So I recreated your example

#!/usr/env nargo
---
[dependencies]
clap = { version = "4", features = ["derive"] }
---

use clap::Parser;

#[derive(Parser)]
#[command()]
enum CommandExample {
    TestCommand,
}

pub(crate) fn main() {
    CommandExample::parse();
}

And ran

$ nargo clap-6195.rs help help
    Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 0.07s
     Running `/home/epage/.cargo/build/7c/e90215a74bc230/target/debug/clap-6195 help help`
Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)

Usage: clap-6195.rs help [COMMAND]...

Arguments:
  [COMMAND]...  Print help for the subcommand(s)

It reports that anything passed to help is a subcommand.

Is there a reason you expected it to be an argument and not a subcommand? And a reason that persisted even after it said it was a subcommand?