From df88c86ddd7a0e9318a3a04c2c5369f2f2ee9408 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Nanook Claw <nanook@agentmail.to>
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2026 20:31:45 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] fix: allow CLI help without config

---
 .../connectors/connectors_cli.py              | 27 ++++++++----
 .../tests/test_connectors_cli.py              | 42 ++++++++++++++++++-
 2 files changed, 61 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)

diff --git a/app/connectors_service/connectors/connectors_cli.py b/app/connectors_service/connectors/connectors_cli.py
index ffccc9aba..03b37cafc 100644
--- a/app/connectors_service/connectors/connectors_cli.py
+++ b/app/connectors_service/connectors/connectors_cli.py
@@ -45,6 +45,25 @@ def load_config(ctx, config):
         raise FileNotFoundError(msg)
 
 
+class LazyConfig:
+    def __init__(self, ctx, config):
+        self.ctx = ctx
+        self.config = config
+        self.value = None
+
+    def __getitem__(self, key):
+        if self.value is None:
+            try:
+                self.value = load_config(self.ctx, self.config)
+            except FileNotFoundError as e:
+                click.echo(
+                    f"{e} Run `connectors login` first, or make sure that the config is either present at the default location ({CONFIG_FILE_PATH}) or it's passed via the '-c' or '--config' option."
+                )
+                self.ctx.exit(1)
+
+        return self.value[key]
+
+
 # Main group
 @click.group(
     invoke_without_command=True,
@@ -60,13 +79,7 @@ def cli(ctx, config):
         return
 
     ctx.ensure_object(dict)
-    try:
-        ctx.obj["config"] = load_config(ctx, config)
-    except FileNotFoundError as e:
-        click.echo(
-            f"{e} Make sure that the config is either present at the default location ({CONFIG_FILE_PATH}) or it's passed via the '-c' or '--config' option."
-        )
-        ctx.exit(1)
+    ctx.obj["config"] = LazyConfig(ctx, config)
 
 
 @click.command(help="Authenticate Connectors CLI with an Elasticsearch instance")
diff --git a/app/connectors_service/tests/test_connectors_cli.py b/app/connectors_service/tests/test_connectors_cli.py
index 7f7de65bc..6fc266047 100644
--- a/app/connectors_service/tests/test_connectors_cli.py
+++ b/app/connectors_service/tests/test_connectors_cli.py
@@ -22,12 +22,21 @@
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
-def mock_cli_config():
+def mock_cli_config(request):
+    if "use_real_cli_config" in request.fixturenames:
+        yield
+        return
+
     with patch("connectors.connectors_cli.load_config") as mock:
         mock.return_value = {"elasticsearch": {"host": "http://localhost:9211/"}}
         yield mock
 
 
+@pytest.fixture
+def use_real_cli_config():
+    pass
+
+
 @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
 def mock_connector_es_client():
     with patch("connectors.cli.connector.CLIClient") as mock:
@@ -655,6 +664,37 @@ def test_job_help_page_without_subcommands():
     assert "Commands:" in result.output
 
 
+def test_job_help_page_without_config_file(tmp_path, use_real_cli_config):
+    runner = CliRunner()
+    with runner.isolated_filesystem(temp_dir=tmp_path):
+        result = runner.invoke(cli, ["job", "--help"])
+
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+    assert "Usage:" in result.output
+    assert "Commands:" in result.output
+    assert f"{CONFIG_FILE_PATH} was not found" not in result.output
+
+
+def test_job_subcommand_help_page_without_config_file(tmp_path, use_real_cli_config):
+    runner = CliRunner()
+    with runner.isolated_filesystem(temp_dir=tmp_path):
+        result = runner.invoke(cli, ["job", "list", "--help"])
+
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+    assert "Usage:" in result.output
+    assert f"{CONFIG_FILE_PATH} was not found" not in result.output
+
+
+def test_command_without_config_file_suggests_login(tmp_path, use_real_cli_config):
+    runner = CliRunner()
+    with runner.isolated_filesystem(temp_dir=tmp_path):
+        result = runner.invoke(cli, ["job", "list", "test-connector-id"])
+
+    assert result.exit_code == 1
+    assert f"{CONFIG_FILE_PATH} was not found" in result.output
+    assert "connectors login" in result.output
+
+
 @patch("click.confirm", MagicMock(return_value=True))
 def test_job_cancel():
     runner = CliRunner()