bin/disinto

@@ -707,13 +707,18 @@ _disinto_init_nomad() {
 }
 
 disinto_init() {
-  local repo_url="${1:-}"
+  # Only consume $1 as repo_url if it looks like a positional arg (not a
-  if [ -z "$repo_url" ]; then
+  # flag). The nomad backend (#835) takes no positional — the LXC already
-    echo "Error: repo URL required" >&2
+  # has the repo cloned by the operator, and repo_url is a docker-backend
-    echo "Usage: disinto init <repo-url>" >&2
+  # concept. Eagerly consuming `--backend=nomad` as repo_url produced the
-    exit 1
+  # nonsense "--empty is only valid with --backend=nomad" error seen in
+  # S0.1 end-to-end testing on a fresh LXC. Defer the "repo URL required"
+  # check to after argparse, where we know the backend.
+  local repo_url=""
+  if [ $# -gt 0 ] && [[ "$1" != --* ]]; then
+    repo_url="$1"
+    shift
   fi
-  shift
 
   # Parse flags
   local branch="" repo_root="" ci_id="0" auto_yes=false forge_url_flag="" bare=false rotate_tokens=false use_build=false dry_run=false backend="docker" empty=false
@@ -741,6 +746,16 @@ disinto_init() {
     *) echo "Error: invalid --backend value '${backend}' (expected: docker|nomad)" >&2; exit 1 ;;
   esac
 
+  # Docker backend requires a repo_url positional; nomad doesn't use one.
+  # This check must run *after* argparse so `--backend=docker` (with no
+  # positional) errors with a helpful message instead of the misleading
+  # "Unknown option: --backend=docker".
+  if [ "$backend" = "docker" ] && [ -z "$repo_url" ]; then
+    echo "Error: repo URL required" >&2
+    echo "Usage: disinto init <repo-url> [options]" >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
   # --empty is nomad-only today (the docker path has no concept of an
   # "empty cluster"). Reject explicitly rather than letting it silently
   # do nothing on --backend=docker.

tests/disinto-init-nomad.bats

@@ -104,3 +104,42 @@ setup_file() {
   [ "$status" -ne 0 ]
   [[ "$output" == *"--empty is only valid with --backend=nomad"* ]]
 }
+
+# ── Positional vs flag-first invocation (#835) ───────────────────────────────
+#
+# Before the #835 fix, disinto_init eagerly consumed $1 as repo_url *before*
+# argparse ran. That swallowed `--backend=nomad` as a repo_url and then
+# complained that `--empty` required a nomad backend — the nonsense error
+# flagged during S0.1 end-to-end verification. The cases below pin the CLI
+# to the post-fix contract: the nomad path accepts flag-first invocation,
+# the docker path still errors helpfully on a missing repo_url.
+
+@test "disinto init --backend=nomad --empty --dry-run (no positional) dispatches to nomad" {
+  run "$DISINTO_BIN" init --backend=nomad --empty --dry-run
+  [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+  [[ "$output" == *"nomad backend: --empty (cluster-up only, no jobs)"* ]]
+  [[ "$output" == *"[dry-run] Step 1/9: install nomad + vault binaries"* ]]
+  # The bug symptom must be absent — backend was misdetected as docker
+  # when --backend=nomad got swallowed as repo_url.
+  [[ "$output" != *"--empty is only valid with --backend=nomad"* ]]
+}
+
+@test "disinto init --backend nomad --dry-run (space-separated, no positional) dispatches to nomad" {
+  run "$DISINTO_BIN" init --backend nomad --dry-run
+  [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+  [[ "$output" == *"nomad backend: default"* ]]
+  [[ "$output" == *"[dry-run] Step 1/9: install nomad + vault binaries"* ]]
+}
+
+@test "disinto init (no args) still errors with 'repo URL required'" {
+  run "$DISINTO_BIN" init
+  [ "$status" -ne 0 ]
+  [[ "$output" == *"repo URL required"* ]]
+}
+
+@test "disinto init --backend=docker (no positional) errors with 'repo URL required', not 'Unknown option'" {
+  run "$DISINTO_BIN" init --backend=docker
+  [ "$status" -ne 0 ]
+  [[ "$output" == *"repo URL required"* ]]
+  [[ "$output" != *"Unknown option"* ]]
+}