`collectoss --help` requires a database connection

> [!NOTE]
> Migrated from [augurlabs/augur#3654](https://github.com/augurlabs/augur/issues/3654)
> Originally opened by `@MoralCode` on 2026-02-06

---

> - `augur --help` exits early with:
>
> `ERROR no way to get connection to the database. There is no db.config.json and the AUGUR_DB environment variable is not set`
>
> [...] help requires DB initialization first.
> If the intended behavior is that `--help` should work without DB config, I’m happy to help implement a fix / open a PR.
>

_Originally posted by @mezo78902 in [augurlabs/augur#3627](https://github.com/chaoss/augur/issues/3627#issuecomment-3861949281)_

IMO the help command should just output command information, link to setup docs, etc. i see no reason it needs a database, even if running any of the commands it documents is likely to require them