Azure / Azure/azure-functions-core-tools

Consider renaming `--output` to `--format` CLI-wide to free `--output` for directory targeting

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#5,568 0 comments 1 reaction 0 assignees View on GitHub
Needs: Triage (Functions) v5
Dominant language
C#
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

## Context

From [PR #5535 discussion](https://github.com/Azure/azure-functions-core-tools/pull/5535) — the `func new` redesign needs an option for the template output directory (analogous to `dotnet new --output`), but `--output` / `-o` is already used across v5 commands to control rendering format (plain/json).

Currently `--output` means "format" on:
- `func new`
- `func start`
- `func setup`

This forces the template output directory to use `--path`, which is ambiguous.

## Proposal

Rename the format option from `--output` to `--format` across all commands, then use `--output` / `-o` for directory targeting on `func new` (and potentially `func init`), matching `dotnet new --output` conventions.

## Why now is a good time

- `--output` as format is a v5-only convention — v4 doesn't use it
- v5 is still in preview, so breaking changes are expected
- Aligning with `dotnet new --output` reduces learning curve

## Scope

Needs a CLI-wide audit of `--output` usage and a coordinated rename across all affected commands.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start by auditing every v5 CLI entry point that uses --output, especially func new, func start, and func setup, and compare the existing option behavior with the proposal. Done means the format option is consistently named --format across affected commands and --output/-o is available for directory targeting where specified, with tests covering the renamed options.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
csharp
Domain
cli
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

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