pnpm -s <script> fails with "unexpected argument '-s' found" in pnpm 12, while pnpm -s run <script> works #16446

Last pnpm version that worked: 11.28.2

pnpm version: 12.8.1 (also 12.1.0, 12.2.1, 12.3.4, 12.4.1, 12.4.2, 12.6.0)

Code to reproduce the issue:

package.json:

{
  "name": "repro",
  "scripts": { "lint": "echo linted" }
}

pnpm -s lint

Expected behavior:

The script runs and exits 0, the same as pnpm -s run lint. pnpm 11.28.2 runs it, and so does pnpm 10.20.0.

Actual behavior:

error: unexpected argument '-s' found

Usage: pnpm [OPTIONS] <COMMAND>

For more information, try '--help'.

Exit code 2. The script does not run.

Additional information:

On 12.8.1, in the same project:

So only the short form, and only in front of an implicit script name, is rejected.

• A project pinned to pnpm 10 breaks too. With "packageManager": "pnpm@10.20.0", pnpm 12 rejects pnpm -s lint before it hands the command to 10.20.0, and 10.20.0 accepts that command.
• What -s means here has already changed once. Through 11.13.0, pnpm -s lint ran the script silently: it printed only linted. From 11.14.0, -s became the shorthand for --sequential on pnpm run, and pnpm -s lint still ran but printed the $ echo linted header. So the 11.14.0 behaviour was not silent either. The note in the pnpm run docs says "For pnpm run, -s is the shorthand for --sequential. Everywhere else in the CLI, -s remains the shorthand for --reporter=silent." If -s in front of a script name is meant to be --sequential, pnpm 12 should accept it as it accepts pnpm -s run lint. If it is meant to be --silent, pnpm 11.14+ and 12 both differ from the docs.
• The 12.0.0 release notes do not list this as a breaking change.
• Related, both closed: Pacquet delegated frozen install rejects --ignore-scripts and --silent #11936 (--silent rejected on a delegated frozen install) and 18 pnpm install flags removed in 12.0.0 without appearing in the breaking changes #14281 (install flags removed in 12.0.0 without appearing in the breaking changes).

Node.js version: v26.10.0

Operating System: Windows