willowdev-code · Oct 27, 2026 · Oct 27, 2026 · Oct 27, 2026
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,6 +3,14 @@
 All notable changes to xpp-lens (called xpp-graft up to 1.2.0). Versions follow `<Version>` in
 `src/XppLens/XppLens.csproj`; release tags are `vX.Y.Z`.
 
+## 1.4.1
+
+### Fixed
+- `xpplens <command> --help` stopped with "unknown option '--help'"; it now shows the help of that command (also
+  `-h` and `xpplens help <command>`).
+- `xpplens help` did not list `config --standard-models`, `config --remove-standard-publisher` and
+  `register`/`unregister --exe`. A test now checks that every command and option the program accepts is in the help.
+
 ## 1.4.0
 
 ### Added

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -214,11 +214,11 @@ Switch off with `xpplens config --usage-log false`.
 ```
 xpplens find|object|method|callers|callees|refs|ext|scaffold|build-errors|security|join|entity|changed|grep|label …
 xpplens build [--full-only] [--std-only] [--compiled-only] [--force]
-xpplens status [--counts] [--ascii] | stats | update [--install] | detect | config | register | unregister | mcp | version
+xpplens status [--counts] [--ascii] | stats | update [--install [--restart-claude]] [--pre] | detect | config | register | unregister | mcp | version
 xpplens skills [install [--lang en|pl] | remove | status]
 ```
 
-`xpplens help` lists every option. Environment variables: `XPPLENS_CONFIG` (another configuration),
+`xpplens help` lists every option; `xpplens <command> --help` (or `xpplens help <command>`) only those of one command. Environment variables: `XPPLENS_CONFIG` (another configuration),
 `XPPLENS_VERBOSE=1` (SQL timings on stderr), `XPPLENS_TIMING=1` (total time of a CLI query).
 
 ## Development

diff --git a/README.pl.md b/README.pl.md
@@ -215,11 +215,11 @@ Wyłączenie: `xpplens config --usage-log false`.
 ```
 xpplens find|object|method|callers|callees|refs|ext|scaffold|build-errors|security|join|entity|changed|grep|label …
 xpplens build [--full-only] [--std-only] [--compiled-only] [--force]
-xpplens status [--counts] [--ascii] | stats | update [--install] | detect | config | register | unregister | mcp | version
+xpplens status [--counts] [--ascii] | stats | update [--install [--restart-claude]] [--pre] | detect | config | register | unregister | mcp | version
 xpplens skills [install [--lang en|pl] | remove | status]
 ```
 
-`xpplens help` wypisuje wszystkie opcje. Zmienne: `XPPLENS_CONFIG` (inna konfiguracja), `XPPLENS_VERBOSE=1`
+`xpplens help` wypisuje wszystkie opcje; `xpplens <polecenie> --help` (albo `xpplens help <polecenie>`) tylko opcje jednego polecenia. Zmienne: `XPPLENS_CONFIG` (inna konfiguracja), `XPPLENS_VERBOSE=1`
 (czasy zapytań SQL na stderr), `XPPLENS_TIMING=1` (łączny czas zapytania w CLI).
 
 ## Rozwój narzędzia

diff --git a/src/XppLens/CommandLine.cs b/src/XppLens/CommandLine.cs
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ namespace XppLens;
 public sealed partial class CommandLine
 {
     // "name=" takes a value, "name" is a switch.
-    static readonly Dictionary<string, string[]> Known = new(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
+    internal static readonly Dictionary<string, string[]> Known = new(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
     {
         ["update"] = ["install", "restart-claude", "pre"],
         ["migrate"] = ["from=", "config="],
@@ -61,6 +61,14 @@ public sealed partial class CommandLine
     /// <exception cref="ArgumentException">An option the command does not know, or one without its value.</exception>
     public static CommandLine Parse(string[] args)
     {
+        // "xpplens <command> --help" (or -h): the help of that command, as "xpplens help <command>".
+        var end = Array.IndexOf(args, "--");
+        if (args.Length > 1 && args.Take(end < 0 ? args.Length : end).Skip(1).Any(a => a is "--help" or "-h" or "-?"))
+        {
+            var help = new CommandLine("help");
+            help.Positional.Add(args[0].ToLowerInvariant());
+            return help;
+        }
         var cl = new CommandLine(args.Length > 0 ? args[0].ToLowerInvariant() : "help");
         // help, version and unknown commands: no option checking (an unknown command fails on its own).
         Known.TryGetValue(cl.Command, out var spec);
@@ -107,4 +115,84 @@ public static CommandLine Parse(string[] args)
         _values.TryGetValue(name, out var q) && q.Count > 0 ? q.Dequeue() : null;
 
     public bool Flag(string name) => _switches.Contains(name);
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// The lines of <see cref="HelpText"/> about one command (its usage lines with their continuations) and the
+    /// options note; null for a command the help does not describe.
+    /// </summary>
+    public static string? HelpFor(string command)
+    {
+        var lines = HelpText.Replace("\r", "").Split('\n');
+        var picked = new List<string>();
+        var inside = false;
+        foreach (var line in lines)
+        {
+            var trimmed = line.TrimStart();
+            if (trimmed.StartsWith("xpplens ", StringComparison.Ordinal) && line.StartsWith("  xpplens", StringComparison.Ordinal))
+                inside = trimmed == $"xpplens {command}" || trimmed.StartsWith($"xpplens {command} ", StringComparison.Ordinal);
+            else if (inside && !line.StartsWith("   ", StringComparison.Ordinal))
+                inside = false;
+            if (inside) picked.Add(line);
+        }
+        if (picked.Count == 0) return null;
+        picked.Add("");
+        picked.AddRange(lines.Where(l => l.StartsWith("options:", StringComparison.Ordinal)));
+        return string.Join(Environment.NewLine, picked);
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>The text of "xpplens help"; CommandLineTests checks that every command and option in Known is in it.</summary>
+    public const string HelpText = """
+    xpplens — X++ code index (D365 F&O) · WillowDev
+
+      xpplens detect [--set [--first]]                     find PackagesLocalDirectory on this machine
+      xpplens config                                       show settings
+      xpplens config --packages-dir <path> | --index-path <path>
+                      --add-language pl | --remove-language pl | --languages en-US,pl
+                      --display-language en-US
+                      --add-full-model Contoso | --remove-full-model Contoso | --full-models A,B
+                      --add-standard-model X | --remove-standard-model X | --standard-models A,B
+                      --add-standard-publisher "Contoso" | --remove-standard-publisher "Contoso"
+                      --standard-publishers Microsoft
+                      --index-standard true|false | --standard-code true|false
+                      --rescan-seconds 300 | --usage-log true|false
+      xpplens build [--full-only] [--std-only] [--compiled-only] [--force]   build / update the index
+                    (--std-only also switches indexStandard on when an installation was made without it)
+      xpplens status [--counts] [--ascii]                    --counts: also count references and labels (slow on a cold disk)
+                                                             --ascii: frames from +-| (automatic when redirected)
+      xpplens update [--install [--restart-claude]] [--pre]  check GitHub for a newer release; --install downloads,
+                                                             verifies (SHA-256) and installs it, keeping settings and index
+                                                             (Claude may stay open; --restart-claude restarts Claude Desktop
+                                                             at the end without asking); --pre: test releases too
+      xpplens stats [--days 7] [--top 10]                   tokens, time and empty answers of MCP calls
+      xpplens find <query[;query…]> [--kind any|object|method|field] [--type t] [--model m] [--limit n]
+                   [--property "Name[;Name2]" | "Name=*value*"]   list root properties of the matching objects
+      xpplens object <name[;name…]> [--type t] [--sections list] [--parent control] [--depth n] [--filter *text*]
+      xpplens method <object> [<method[;method…]>] [--type t] [--match regex] [--lines from-to] [--context n]
+      xpplens callers <object> <method> [--depth n] [--limit n] [--standard true|false]
+      xpplens callees <object> <method> [--type t]
+      xpplens refs <name> [--member m] [--kind k] [--model m] [--limit n]
+      xpplens ext <name>
+      xpplens scaffold coc|event|delegate|pre|post <object> <member> [--element ds|ds.field|control] [--class name] [--type t]
+      xpplens build-errors [--model m] [--severity error|warning|all] [--limit n]
+                      (newest of the model build and the project build, with objects not compiled since)
+      xpplens security <menuitem|form|privilege|duty|role> [--type t] [--limit n]
+      xpplens join <fromTable> <toTable> [--hops n] [--limit n]
+      xpplens entity <entity|publicName|table> [--sections list] [--limit n]
+      xpplens changed [--since 24h|3d|2026-10-01|build] [--model m] [--type t] [--limit n]
+                      (--since build: objects changed after the package's last build, i.e. not compiled yet)
+      xpplens grep <regex> [--model m] [--type t] [--object o] [--standard] [--limit n]
+      xpplens label <@id|text> [--lang l] [--limit n]
+      xpplens mcp                                           MCP server over stdio
+      xpplens register [--desktop] [--code] [--name xpp-lens] [--exe path]   add to Claude config(s)
+                                                             (--exe: another xpplens.exe than this one)
+      xpplens unregister [--desktop] [--code] [--name xpp-lens] [--exe path] [--any]
+                                                             (--any: also entries of other installations)
+      xpplens skills [install [--lang en|pl]|remove|status]  Claude Code skills of the package in ~/.claude/skills
+                                                             (a skill changed locally is kept, never overwritten;
+                                                             --lang: the language of their texts, kept for updates)
+      xpplens version
+
+    options: --name value, --name=value or -name value; '--' ends the options (for an argument starting with '-')
+    config: xpplens.json next to the executable or in a parent folder (or XPPLENS_CONFIG)
+    """;
 }
diff --git a/src/XppLens/Program.cs b/src/XppLens/Program.cs
@@ -275,57 +275,7 @@ void SetList(List<string> list, string addOpt, string removeOpt, string setOpt)
 
 if (cmd is "help" or "-h" or "--help")
 {
-    Console.WriteLine("""
-        xpplens — X++ code index (D365 F&O) · WillowDev
-
-          xpplens detect [--set [--first]]                     find PackagesLocalDirectory on this machine
-          xpplens config                                       show settings
-          xpplens config --packages-dir <path> | --index-path <path>
-                          --add-language pl | --remove-language pl | --languages en-US,pl
-                          --display-language en-US
-                          --add-full-model Contoso | --remove-full-model Contoso | --full-models A,B
-                          --add-standard-model X | --remove-standard-model X
-                          --add-standard-publisher "Contoso" | --standard-publishers Microsoft
-                          --index-standard true|false | --standard-code true|false
-                          --rescan-seconds 300 | --usage-log true|false
-          xpplens build [--full-only] [--std-only] [--compiled-only] [--force]   build / update the index
-                        (--std-only also switches indexStandard on when an installation was made without it)
-          xpplens status [--counts] [--ascii]                    --counts: also count references and labels (slow on a cold disk)
-                                                                 --ascii: frames from +-| (automatic when redirected)
-          xpplens update [--install [--restart-claude]] [--pre]  check GitHub for a newer release; --install downloads,
-                                                                 verifies (SHA-256) and installs it, keeping settings and index
-                                                                 (Claude may stay open; --restart-claude restarts Claude Desktop
-                                                                 at the end without asking); --pre: test releases too
-          xpplens stats [--days 7] [--top 10]                   tokens, time and empty answers of MCP calls
-          xpplens find <query[;query…]> [--kind any|object|method|field] [--type t] [--model m] [--limit n]
-                       [--property "Name[;Name2]" | "Name=*value*"]   list root properties of the matching objects
-          xpplens object <name[;name…]> [--type t] [--sections list] [--parent control] [--depth n] [--filter *text*]
-          xpplens method <object> [<method[;method…]>] [--type t] [--match regex] [--lines from-to] [--context n]
-          xpplens callers <object> <method> [--depth n] [--limit n] [--standard true|false]
-          xpplens callees <object> <method> [--type t]
-          xpplens refs <name> [--member m] [--kind k] [--model m] [--limit n]
-          xpplens ext <name>
-          xpplens scaffold coc|event|delegate|pre|post <object> <member> [--element ds|ds.field|control] [--class name] [--type t]
-          xpplens build-errors [--model m] [--severity error|warning|all] [--limit n]
-                          (newest of the model build and the project build, with objects not compiled since)
-          xpplens security <menuitem|form|privilege|duty|role> [--type t] [--limit n]
-          xpplens join <fromTable> <toTable> [--hops n] [--limit n]
-          xpplens entity <entity|publicName|table> [--sections list] [--limit n]
-          xpplens changed [--since 24h|3d|2026-10-01|build] [--model m] [--type t] [--limit n]
-                          (--since build: objects changed after the package's last build, i.e. not compiled yet)
-          xpplens grep <regex> [--model m] [--type t] [--object o] [--standard] [--limit n]
-          xpplens label <@id|text> [--lang l] [--limit n]
-          xpplens mcp                                           MCP server over stdio
-          xpplens register [--desktop] [--code] [--name xpp-lens]    add to Claude config(s)
-          xpplens unregister [--desktop] [--code] [--any]             (--any: also other installations)
-          xpplens skills [install [--lang en|pl]|remove|status]  Claude Code skills of the package in ~/.claude/skills
-                                                                 (a skill changed locally is kept, never overwritten;
-                                                                 --lang: the language of their texts, kept for updates)
-          xpplens version
-
-        options: --name value, --name=value or -name value; '--' ends the options (for an argument starting with '-')
-        config: xpplens.json next to the executable or in a parent folder (or XPPLENS_CONFIG)
-        """);
+    Console.WriteLine(rest.Count > 0 && CommandLine.HelpFor(rest[0]) is { } one ? one : CommandLine.HelpText);
     return 0;
 }
 

diff --git a/src/XppLens/XppLens.csproj b/src/XppLens/XppLens.csproj
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
     <AssemblyTitle>xpp-lens — X++ code index for MCP</AssemblyTitle>
     <Description>X++ (Dynamics 365 F&amp;O) code index served to AI assistants over MCP</Description>
     <Copyright>Copyright © 2026 WillowDev</Copyright>
-    <Version>1.4.0</Version>
+    <Version>1.4.1</Version>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>

diff --git a/tests/XppLens.Tests/CommandLineTests.cs b/tests/XppLens.Tests/CommandLineTests.cs
@@ -42,4 +42,33 @@ public void Repeated_options_and_double_dash()
         Assert.Equal(["-1"], grep.Positional);
         Assert.Equal("Contoso*", grep.Opt("model"));
     }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Help_describes_every_command_and_option()
+    {
+        // migrate is run by install.ps1 only; detect --apply is another name of --set.
+        foreach (var (command, options) in CommandLine.Known.Where(k => k.Key != "migrate"))
+        {
+            Assert.NotNull(CommandLine.HelpFor(command));
+            foreach (var option in options.Select(o => o.TrimEnd('=')).Where(o => o != "apply"))
+                Assert.True(CommandLine.HelpFor(command)!.Contains("--" + option, StringComparison.Ordinal),
+                    $"xpplens help has no --{option} for '{command}'");
+        }
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Help_option_after_a_command_shows_that_command()
+    {
+        var cl = CommandLine.Parse(["update", "--help"]);
+        Assert.Equal("help", cl.Command);
+        Assert.Equal(["update"], cl.Positional);
+        Assert.Equal("help", CommandLine.Parse(["find", "-h"]).Command);
+        Assert.Equal("grep", CommandLine.Parse(["grep", "--", "--help"]).Command);
+
+        var update = CommandLine.HelpFor("update")!;
+        Assert.Contains("--pre", update);
+        Assert.DoesNotContain("xpplens find", update);
+        Assert.Contains("--remove-standard-publisher", CommandLine.HelpFor("config"));
+        Assert.Null(CommandLine.HelpFor("nonsense"));
+    }
 }