feat(cli): point to --help when a typo has no "did you mean" suggestion

Commander already suggests near-miss commands/options, but when a typo is
too far for a suggestion it emits a bare "unknown command/option" error
with no next step. Tail those with a pointer to `playground --help`,
matching git's behavior. Walks the command tree because commander does not
propagate the root output config to addCommand'd subcommands.

Author: UtkarshBhardwaj007

.changeset/helpful-command-suggestions.md

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"playground-cli": patch
+---
+
+When a mistyped command or option is too far off for commander's built-in "Did you mean …?" suggestion, the error now tails with a pointer to `playground --help` (matching git's behavior). Covers the root program and every subcommand, including option typos on `login`, `deploy`, etc.

src/index.ts

@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ import {
     onProcessShutdown,
     setProcessGuardWarningHandler,
 } from "./utils/process-guard.js";
+import { installHelpHint } from "./utils/help-hint.js";
 import { clearWindowTitle } from "./utils/ui/theme/window-title.js";
 import { startVersionCheck } from "./utils/version-check.js";
 
@@ -140,6 +141,13 @@ program.addCommand(decentralizeCommand);
 program.addCommand(logoutCommand);
 program.addCommand(updateCommand);
 
+// Commander already suggests "Did you mean …?" for near-miss typos. When the
+// typo is too far for a suggestion it emits a bare "unknown command/option"
+// error; tail it with a pointer to `--help` (git does the same). Must run AFTER
+// the addCommand calls above so the walk reaches every subcommand — commander
+// does not propagate the root output config to addCommand'd children.
+installHelpHint(program);
+
 // Kick off the "is there a newer dot release?" check immediately so the
 // jsDelivr fetch races the command rather than tacking onto its tail. The
 // banner (if any) is printed in the `finally` once the user-visible work

src/utils/help-hint.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+// Copyright (C) Parity Technologies (UK) Ltd.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+import { Command } from "commander";
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { appendHelpHint, installHelpHint } from "./help-hint.js";
+
+describe("appendHelpHint", () => {
+    it("appends a commands hint when an unknown command has no suggestion", () => {
+        const out = appendHelpHint("error: unknown command 'xyzzy'\n", "playground");
+        expect(out).toBe(
+            "error: unknown command 'xyzzy'\nRun 'playground --help' to see available commands.\n",
+        );
+    });
+
+    it("appends an options hint when an unknown option has no suggestion", () => {
+        const out = appendHelpHint("error: unknown option '--zzz'\n", "playground");
+        expect(out).toBe(
+            "error: unknown option '--zzz'\nRun 'playground --help' to see available options.\n",
+        );
+    });
+
+    it("leaves an unknown command untouched when commander already suggested one", () => {
+        const input = "error: unknown command 'loign'\n(Did you mean login?)\n";
+        expect(appendHelpHint(input, "playground")).toBe(input);
+    });
+
+    it("leaves an unknown option untouched when commander already suggested one", () => {
+        const input = "error: unknown option '--yse'\n(Did you mean --yes?)\n";
+        expect(appendHelpHint(input, "playground")).toBe(input);
+    });
+
+    it("leaves unrelated errors untouched", () => {
+        const input = "error: required option '--name <value>' not specified\n";
+        expect(appendHelpHint(input, "playground")).toBe(input);
+    });
+
+    it("uses the supplied program name in the hint", () => {
+        const out = appendHelpHint("error: unknown command 'nope'\n", "pg");
+        expect(out).toBe(
+            "error: unknown command 'nope'\nRun 'pg --help' to see available commands.\n",
+        );
+    });
+
+    it("appends a trailing newline before the hint when the error text lacks one", () => {
+        const out = appendHelpHint("error: unknown command 'nope'", "playground");
+        expect(out).toBe(
+            "error: unknown command 'nope'\nRun 'playground --help' to see available commands.\n",
+        );
+    });
+});
+
+describe("installHelpHint", () => {
+    afterEach(() => vi.restoreAllMocks());
+
+    function buildProgram(): Command {
+        const program = new Command().name("playground").exitOverride();
+        const login = new Command("login").option("--yes").exitOverride();
+        // addCommand (not .command()) mirrors src/index.ts; commander does NOT
+        // propagate the root output config to addCommand'd subcommands, which is
+        // exactly why installHelpHint must walk the tree.
+        program.addCommand(login);
+        installHelpHint(program);
+        return program;
+    }
+
+    function captureStderr(): { read: () => string } {
+        let buf = "";
+        vi.spyOn(process.stderr, "write").mockImplementation((chunk: string | Uint8Array) => {
+            buf += chunk.toString();
+            return true;
+        });
+        return { read: () => buf };
+    }
+
+    it("adds the hint to a root-level unknown command with no suggestion", () => {
+        const program = buildProgram();
+        const stderr = captureStderr();
+        expect(() => program.parse(["xyzzy"], { from: "user" })).toThrow();
+        expect(stderr.read()).toContain("Run 'playground --help' to see available commands.");
+    });
+
+    it("adds the hint to a SUBCOMMAND unknown option with no suggestion", () => {
+        const program = buildProgram();
+        const stderr = captureStderr();
+        expect(() => program.parse(["login", "--zzzzzz"], { from: "user" })).toThrow();
+        expect(stderr.read()).toContain("Run 'playground --help' to see available options.");
+    });
+
+    it("does not add the hint when the subcommand option has a suggestion", () => {
+        const program = buildProgram();
+        const stderr = captureStderr();
+        expect(() => program.parse(["login", "--yse"], { from: "user" })).toThrow();
+        expect(stderr.read()).toContain("Did you mean --yes?");
+        expect(stderr.read()).not.toContain("--help");
+    });
+});

src/utils/help-hint.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+// Copyright (C) Parity Technologies (UK) Ltd.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+import type { Command } from "commander";
+
+/**
+ * Commander v12 already prints a Levenshtein "Did you mean …?" suggestion for an
+ * unknown command or option (`showSuggestionAfterError`, on by default). But when
+ * the typo is too far from any real name it can't suggest anything and emits a
+ * bare `error: unknown command 'xyzzy'` with no next step. `git` always tails its
+ * equivalent error with `See 'git --help'`; this mirrors that.
+ *
+ * Wired via `installHelpHint(program)` in `src/index.ts`. We append a help
+ * pointer ONLY for unknown command/option errors that commander left without a
+ * suggestion; every other error (already-suggested, missing-required-option,
+ * invalid-argument, …) passes through untouched.
+ */
+export function appendHelpHint(errorText: string, programName: string): string {
+    if (errorText.includes("Did you mean")) return errorText;
+
+    const noun = errorText.includes("unknown command")
+        ? "commands"
+        : errorText.includes("unknown option")
+          ? "options"
+          : null;
+    if (noun === null) return errorText;
+
+    const base = errorText.endsWith("\n") ? errorText : `${errorText}\n`;
+    return `${base}Run '${programName} --help' to see available ${noun}.\n`;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Install the help-hint output wrapper on `program` AND every descendant
+ * command. Commander does NOT propagate a parent's `configureOutput` to
+ * subcommands attached via `addCommand` (the form `src/index.ts` uses), so a
+ * root-only hook would miss option typos on `login`, `deploy`, etc. — we walk
+ * the tree so every command's error output is wrapped. The hint always points at
+ * the root program name (`playground`), matching git's single generic pointer.
+ */
+export function installHelpHint(program: Command): void {
+    const wrap = (cmd: Command): void => {
+        cmd.configureOutput({
+            outputError: (str, write) => write(appendHelpHint(str, program.name())),
+        });
+        for (const child of cmd.commands) wrap(child);
+    };
+    wrap(program);
+}