From f8367e88d201221af46033475c4800607e902c74 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Ishan Gupta <141325549+chocothunder5013@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2026 06:32:53 +0530
Subject: [PATCH] fix(dlx): print help message when no arguments are provided
 (#10690)

* fix(dlx): print help message on calling pnpm dlx without arguments

Running `pnpm dlx` with no arguments would crash Node.js with a
TypeError as it attempted to call `.indexOf()` on an undefined variable.
This commit adds a guard clause and displays the help message instead
and exits gracefully.

Fixes #10633

* refactor: dlx

---------

Co-authored-by: Zoltan Kochan <z@kochan.io>
---
 .changeset/twenty-parks-end.md                 |  6 ++++++
 exec/plugin-commands-script-runners/src/dlx.ts |  5 ++++-
 pnpm/test/dlx.ts                               | 11 +++++++++++
 3 files changed, 21 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 .changeset/twenty-parks-end.md

diff --git a/.changeset/twenty-parks-end.md b/.changeset/twenty-parks-end.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4e66dc93f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/twenty-parks-end.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+"@pnpm/plugin-commands-script-runners": patch
+"pnpm": patch
+---
+
+Print help message on running pnpm dlx without arguments and exit.
diff --git a/exec/plugin-commands-script-runners/src/dlx.ts b/exec/plugin-commands-script-runners/src/dlx.ts
index d469f319cc..6412e63149 100644
--- a/exec/plugin-commands-script-runners/src/dlx.ts
+++ b/exec/plugin-commands-script-runners/src/dlx.ts
@@ -87,7 +87,10 @@ export type DlxCommandOptions = {
 export async function handler (
   opts: DlxCommandOptions,
   [command, ...args]: string[]
-): Promise<{ exitCode: number }> {
+): Promise<{ exitCode: number, output?: string }> {
+  if (!command && (!opts.package || opts.package.length === 0)) {
+    return { exitCode: 1, output: help() }
+  }
   const pkgs = opts.package ?? [command]
   const fullMetadata = (
     (
diff --git a/pnpm/test/dlx.ts b/pnpm/test/dlx.ts
index 125092d55b..352e2dc523 100644
--- a/pnpm/test/dlx.ts
+++ b/pnpm/test/dlx.ts
@@ -299,6 +299,17 @@ test('dlx uses the node version specified by --package=node@runtime:<version>',
   }
 })
 
+test('dlx without arguments prints help text and exits with 1', () => {
+  prepareEmpty()
+
+  const result = execPnpmSync(['dlx'])
+
+  expect(result.status).toBe(1)
+
+  const output = result.stdout.toString()
+  expect(output).toMatch(/Run a package in a temporary environment\./)
+})
+
 describeOnLinuxOnly('dlx with supportedArchitectures CLI options', () => {
   type CPU = 'arm64' | 'x64'
   type LibC = 'glibc' | 'musl'