diff --git a/mace/tools/validation/mace_run.cc b/mace/tools/validation/mace_run.cc
index fca4a0fd42958110130e6317274b32a600106ab3..ba25cced37aaeaff60e5e10d13b4add7580fd389 100644
--- a/mace/tools/validation/mace_run.cc
+++ b/mace/tools/validation/mace_run.cc
@@ -99,16 +99,16 @@ DEFINE_string(model_name,
               "",
               "model name in yaml");
 DEFINE_string(input_node,
-              "input_node0,input_node1",
+              "",
               "input nodes, separated by comma");
 DEFINE_string(input_shape,
-              "1,224,224,3:1,1,1,10",
+              "",
               "input shapes, separated by colon and comma");
 DEFINE_string(output_node,
-              "output_node0,output_node1",
+              "",
               "output nodes, separated by comma");
 DEFINE_string(output_shape,
-              "1,224,224,2:1,1,1,10",
+              "",
               "output shapes, separated by colon and comma");
 DEFINE_string(input_data_format,
               "NHWC",
@@ -222,6 +222,10 @@ bool RunModel(const std::string &model_name,
     // Create Engine
     int64_t t0 = NowMicros();
 #ifdef MODEL_GRAPH_FORMAT_CODE
+    if (model_name.empty()) {
+      LOG(INFO) << "Please specify model name you want to run";
+      return false;
+    }
     create_engine_status =
           CreateMaceEngineFromCode(model_name,
                                    reinterpret_cast<const unsigned char *>(
@@ -233,6 +237,10 @@ bool RunModel(const std::string &model_name,
                                    &engine);
 #else
     (void)(model_name);
+    if (model_graph_data == nullptr || model_weights_data == nullptr) {
+      LOG(INFO) << "Please specify model graph file and model data file";
+      return false;
+    }
     create_engine_status =
         CreateMaceEngineFromProto(reinterpret_cast<const unsigned char *>(
                                     model_graph_data->data()),
@@ -425,11 +433,19 @@ bool RunModel(const std::string &model_name,
 }
 
 int Main(int argc, char **argv) {
-  std::string usage = "mace run model\nusage: " + std::string(argv[0])
-      + " [flags]";
+  std::string usage = "MACE run model tool, please specify proper arguments.\n"
+                      "usage: " + std::string(argv[0])
+                      + " --help";
   gflags::SetUsageMessage(usage);
   gflags::ParseCommandLineFlags(&argc, &argv, true);
 
+  std::vector<std::string> input_names = Split(FLAGS_input_node, ',');
+  std::vector<std::string> output_names = Split(FLAGS_output_node, ',');
+  if (input_names.empty() || output_names.empty()) {
+    LOG(INFO) << gflags::ProgramUsage();
+    return 0;
+  }
+
   LOG(INFO) << "model name: " << FLAGS_model_name;
   LOG(INFO) << "mace version: " << MaceVersion();
   LOG(INFO) << "input node: " << FLAGS_input_node;
@@ -448,8 +464,6 @@ int Main(int argc, char **argv) {
   LOG(INFO) << "omp_num_threads: " << FLAGS_omp_num_threads;
   LOG(INFO) << "cpu_affinity_policy: " << FLAGS_cpu_affinity_policy;
 
-  std::vector<std::string> input_names = Split(FLAGS_input_node, ',');
-  std::vector<std::string> output_names = Split(FLAGS_output_node, ',');
   std::vector<std::string> input_shapes = Split(FLAGS_input_shape, ':');
   std::vector<std::string> output_shapes = Split(FLAGS_output_shape, ':');
 
@@ -463,6 +477,12 @@ int Main(int argc, char **argv) {
   for (size_t i = 0; i < output_count; ++i) {
     ParseShape(output_shapes[i], &output_shape_vec[i]);
   }
+  if (input_names.size() != input_shape_vec.size()
+      || output_names.size() != output_shape_vec.size()) {
+    LOG(INFO) << "inputs' names do not match inputs' shapes "
+                 "or outputs' names do not match outputs' shapes";
+    return 0;
+  }
   std::vector<std::string> raw_input_data_formats =
     Split(FLAGS_input_data_format, ',');
   std::vector<std::string> raw_output_data_formats =