Cobra won't show help if cmd is not Runnable

[retpolanne]

I have a subcommand that has no Run function.

var containerCmd = &cobra.Command{
	Use:   "container",
	Short: "Global settings for running containers",
}

func init() {
	configCmd.AddCommand(containerCmd)
	containerCmd.PersistentFlags().String("networkEndpoint", "", "Specify a network endpoint (in case you need to network between containers)")
	viper.BindPFlag("networkEndpoint", containerCmd.PersistentFlags().Lookup("networkEndpoint"))
}
...

It only shows the usage when it's added to the rootCmd. When it is not, it only shows the short description. It won't show the help even if I pass the --help flag. It should show the usage when I pass the help flag or no arguments.

I noticed two things:

1. Cobra returns "help requested" if the command is not runnable
   

   cobra/command.go

   Lines 724 to 726 in fe5e611

   	if !c.Runnable() {
   	return flag.ErrHelp
   	}

2. Cobra only renders the Usage if the command is runnable
   

   cobra/command.go

   Lines 432 to 434 in fe5e611

   	return `{{with (or .Long .Short)}}{{. | trimTrailingWhitespaces}}
   	{{end}}{{if or .Runnable .HasSubCommands}}{{.UsageString}}{{end}}`

I added HasFlags to this template and it always displays the usage.

It might be related to #206 (comment)

[umarcor]

Hi @vinicyusmacedo! In #842 the management of errors from non-runnable commands is modified. Please, have look, as it may suit your use case.

[retpolanne]

@umarcor hi, sorry for taking too long.

I believe it should help, though I'm not sure if the Help template will render in this case.

[github-actions]

This issue is being marked as stale due to a long period of inactivity