spring-projects/spring-boot · error · NoSuchCommandException

'%1$s' is not a valid command. See 'help'.

Error message

'%1$s' is not a valid command. See 'help'.

What it means

Thrown by HelpCommand when 'spring help <name>' is invoked and <name> matches no registered command. HelpCommand walks its own known-command list and, on no match, throws NoSuchCommandException with the requested name. Same exception type as [80] but reached via the help subcommand's lookup.

Source

Thrown at cli/spring-boot-cli/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/cli/command/core/HelpCommand.java:121

				}
				if (command.getHelp() != null) {
					Log.info(command.getHelp());
				}
				Collection<HelpExample> examples = command.getExamples();
				if (examples != null) {
					Log.info((examples.size() != 1) ? "examples:" : "example:");
					Log.info("");
					for (HelpExample example : examples) {
						Log.info("    " + example.getDescription() + ":");
						Log.info("        $ " + example.getExample());
						Log.info("");
					}
					Log.info("");
				}
				return ExitStatus.OK;
			}
		}
		throw new NoSuchCommandException(commandName);
	}

}

View on GitHub (pinned to 270dfe353f)

Solutions

1. Run 'spring help' with no argument to see the full command list
2. Correct the command name you are requesting help for
3. Ensure any extension providing the command is installed

Example fix

// before
$ spring help buld
// after
$ spring help build

// Validate the target command name before requesting help.
String name = requestedHelpTarget;
if (name != null && !knownCommandNames.contains(name)) {
    System.err.println("No help for '" + name + "'. Run 'spring help' for the list.");
    return;
}

try {
    runner.run("help", name);
} catch (org.springframework.boot.cli.command.NoSuchCommandException ex) {
    System.err.println(ex.getMessage());
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running 'spring help foobar' where foobar is not a registered command name.

Common situations: Asking for help on a command from an extension that is not loaded; misspelling the command name when invoking help.

Related errors

• '%1$s' is not a valid command. See 'help'.
• Invalid content received from server ({})
• No content received from server '{}'
• Failed to {} from service at '{}' ({})
• Initializr service call failed using '{}' - service returned

AI-assisted analysis of spring-projects/spring-boot@270dfe353f (2026-08-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/52fb023afe4aa53c. Report an issue: GitHub.