why doesn't rg -F '-F' work?

[AndyJado]

version 13.0.0

rg -h | rg -F '-F'

[s-p-turner]

Would it work correctly if you added the -e/--regexp flag?

rg -h | rg -Fe '-F'

[BurntSushi]

Yes, this is correct. rg -F '-F' is no different than rg -F -F. ripgrep can't tell that the second -F is intended to be your search pattern. This is mentioned right near the top of the man page:

            A regular expression used for searching. To match a pattern beginning with a
            dash, use the -e/--regexp flag.
            
            For example, to search for the literal '-foo', you can use this flag:
            
                rg -e -foo
            
            You can also use the special '--' delimiter to indicate that no more flags
            will be provided. Namely, the following is equivalent to the above:
            
                rg -- -foo

So, you can do rg -Fe -F as suggested above. Or rg -F -e -F. Or rg -F -- -F. Or to get a little more obscure, rg -F '[-]F' or even rg -F '\x2DF'.