diff --git a/generators/cli/changes/unreleased/fix-wire-test-no-pager.yml b/generators/cli/changes/unreleased/fix-wire-test-no-pager.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..5bb056083616
--- /dev/null
+++ b/generators/cli/changes/unreleased/fix-wire-test-no-pager.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+- summary: |
+    `generateWireTests: true` no longer emits a suite in which every test
+    fails. The harness passed `--no-pager` on every invocation, but the CLI
+    registers that flag only on operations that declare pagination metadata,
+    so on a spec with no `x-fern-pagination` markers clap rejected the whole
+    command line with "unexpected argument" — 100% of cases, not a subset.
+    The flag was also inert there: the pager only spawns under `--page-all`,
+    which no case passes. Reproduced end to end on the
+    `query-parameters-openapi:with-wire-tests` fixture (0/2 passing before,
+    2/2 after); that fixture also declares no pagination, which is why the
+    breakage was not caught when the registration gate landed.
+  type: fix
diff --git a/generators/cli/src/__test__/wireTests.test.ts b/generators/cli/src/__test__/wireTests.test.ts
index 4bac6ad207a2..eb1f0053d164 100644
--- a/generators/cli/src/__test__/wireTests.test.ts
+++ b/generators/cli/src/__test__/wireTests.test.ts
@@ -353,6 +353,31 @@ describe("renderWireTestHarness", () => {
         expect(rust).toContain("match_header_regex(h.name.as_str()");
     });
 
+    it("passes only flags the SDK registers on every operation", () => {
+        // A flag the SDK registers conditionally cannot be pushed
+        // unconditionally here: clap rejects the whole invocation with
+        // "unexpected argument", so one mismatched flag fails 100% of cases on
+        // any spec that misses the condition — not one case, the entire suite.
+        //
+        // This happened with --no-pager, which the SDK registers only inside
+        // `if method_has_pagination(...)`. Every generated suite for a spec
+        // without pagination metadata failed outright, and the seed fixture
+        // that would have caught it also has no pagination markers.
+        const rust = renderWireTestHarness({ binaryName: "acme-cli", cases: [searchCase] });
+        const pushedFlags = [...rust.matchAll(/args\.push\("(--[a-z0-9-]+)"\.to_string\(\)\)/g)].map(
+            (match) => match[1]
+        );
+        // Registered unconditionally in `commands::build_cli` for every method.
+        const alwaysRegistered = ["--base-url", "--params", "--json"];
+        expect(pushedFlags.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+        for (const flag of pushedFlags) {
+            expect(
+                alwaysRegistered,
+                `${flag} is pushed unconditionally; confirm the SDK registers it on every operation`
+            ).toContain(flag);
+        }
+    });
+
     it("mirrors the SDK's namespace stutter-elision when resolving command chains", () => {
         const rust = renderWireTestHarness({ binaryName: "acme-cli", cases: [searchCase] });
         // The harness must replicate `merge_into_path`'s stutter elision so a
diff --git a/generators/cli/src/wireTests/harness.ts b/generators/cli/src/wireTests/harness.ts
index bb5a61bf55cd..9254a8ac5602 100644
--- a/generators/cli/src/wireTests/harness.ts
+++ b/generators/cli/src/wireTests/harness.ts
@@ -908,7 +908,11 @@ async fn run_case(id: &str) {
     let mut args: Vec<String> = command.chain.clone();
     args.push("--base-url".to_string());
     args.push(server.uri());
-    args.push("--no-pager".to_string());
+    // Deliberately no --no-pager: it is registered only on operations that
+    // declare pagination metadata, so pushing it unconditionally made clap
+    // reject every invocation ("unexpected argument '--no-pager'") on any spec
+    // without pagination markers — the whole suite, not one case. It was also
+    // inert here: the pager only spawns under --page-all, which no case passes.
     if !case.params.is_empty() {
         // The CLI reads path params off the baked spec by their wire name, which
         // can differ from the manifest's (IR-renamed) name — remap those keys so
diff --git a/seed/cli/query-parameters-openapi/with-wire-tests/tests/wire_test.rs b/seed/cli/query-parameters-openapi/with-wire-tests/tests/wire_test.rs
index ac14b070187f..bc57d3a3807c 100644
--- a/seed/cli/query-parameters-openapi/with-wire-tests/tests/wire_test.rs
+++ b/seed/cli/query-parameters-openapi/with-wire-tests/tests/wire_test.rs
@@ -874,7 +874,11 @@ async fn run_case(id: &str) {
     let mut args: Vec<String> = command.chain.clone();
     args.push("--base-url".to_string());
     args.push(server.uri());
-    args.push("--no-pager".to_string());
+    // Deliberately no --no-pager: it is registered only on operations that
+    // declare pagination metadata, so pushing it unconditionally made clap
+    // reject every invocation ("unexpected argument '--no-pager'") on any spec
+    // without pagination markers — the whole suite, not one case. It was also
+    // inert here: the pager only spawns under --page-all, which no case passes.
     if !case.params.is_empty() {
         // The CLI reads path params off the baked spec by their wire name, which
         // can differ from the manifest's (IR-renamed) name — remap those keys so