From 2bbef6caacb345df8da72bfa0b63f05e13549971 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Peter Steinberger <steipete@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 27 May 2026 02:49:20 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] fix: route nested root help targets

---
 src/cli/argv.test.ts | 15 +++++++++++++++
 src/cli/argv.ts      |  6 +++---
 2 files changed, 18 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/cli/argv.test.ts b/src/cli/argv.test.ts
index 0dc1537f1c7..38a00f3af83 100644
--- a/src/cli/argv.test.ts
+++ b/src/cli/argv.test.ts
@@ -151,6 +151,21 @@ describe("argv helpers", () => {
       argv: ["node", "openclaw", "help", "--help"],
       expected: ["node", "openclaw", "help", "--help"],
     },
+    {
+      name: "nested root help target",
+      argv: ["node", "openclaw", "help", "plugins", "list"],
+      expected: ["node", "openclaw", "plugins", "list", "--help"],
+    },
+    {
+      name: "nested root help target with help flag",
+      argv: ["node", "openclaw", "help", "plugins", "list", "--help"],
+      expected: ["node", "openclaw", "plugins", "list", "--help"],
+    },
+    {
+      name: "nested root help target with trailing root option",
+      argv: ["node", "openclaw", "help", "memory", "status", "--no-color"],
+      expected: ["node", "openclaw", "--no-color", "memory", "status", "--help"],
+    },
   ])("normalizes root help targets: $name", ({ argv, expected }) => {
     expect(normalizeRootHelpTargetArgv(argv)).toEqual(expected);
   });
diff --git a/src/cli/argv.ts b/src/cli/argv.ts
index 6012c9a9d29..58691b5c68c 100644
--- a/src/cli/argv.ts
+++ b/src/cli/argv.ts
@@ -245,13 +245,13 @@ export function normalizeRootHelpTargetArgv(argv: string[]): string[] {
   if (
     help?.value !== "help" ||
     !target ||
-    positionals.length !== 2 ||
-    (helpFlagIndex !== null && helpFlagIndex !== target.index + 1)
+    (helpFlagIndex !== null && helpFlagIndex !== positionals.at(-1)!.index + 1)
   ) {
     return argv;
   }
 
-  return [argv[0], argv[1], ...rootOptions, target.value, "--help"];
+  const targetPath = positionals.slice(1).map((positional) => positional.value);
+  return [argv[0], argv[1], ...rootOptions, ...targetPath, "--help"];
 }
 
 export function getFlagValue(argv: string[], name: string): string | null | undefined {