When I ask for > equery d --all-packages --indirect --depth=1 abra-kadabra/simsalabim equery doesn't warn that I'm requesting non-existent package. I should check manually the existence of it.
This part of equery does a simple string search through the listed *DEPENDS of the pkgs. This can be useful for scanning the tree for now obsolete pkg references in existing ebuilds. Adding a check that ensures your search pattern is a valid pkg would slow the search down and add noise to the output when it is not desired. But if you want to add the option to validate your query, you are welcome to submit your pull request for review and inclusion. Currently there is no active development of the code. I think this feature request would be a low priority for most of the devs.
