nodejs / nodejs/node

Should node support subcommands?

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cli feature request never-stale
Dominant language
JavaScript
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

What is the problem this feature will solve?

currently, node's cli interface is pretty simple and lean,
it mainly accepts flags that start with two dashes, or sometimes a single dash for some aliases.
additionally, many flags depend on each other or imply using another flag.

now that more and more flags are added to node, (and each new flag is heavily considered before adding to avoid options bloat), I propose we support a more complex cli interface with sub-commands.
this issue has come up before when adding node --run, and to avoid blocking that - the discussion was postponed, so I went ahead and opened this issue.

If I recall, the main concern was node run or node test is a breaking change since it today runs node run.js or node test.js accordingly - that can be addressed with releasing this gradually as semver-major with a deprecation warning for a few versions prior to the actual change

some groups/clusters of commands that might fit using sub commands:

  • node --run
  • node --watch, --watch-path
  • node --test
  • node --build-snapshot
What is the feature you are proposing to solve the problem?

N/A

What alternatives have you considered?

No response

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reviewing Node's CLI handling and the prior discussion around node --run, then compare the proposed groups: --run, --watch, --test, and --build-snapshot. Consider the compatibility impact on existing node run.js and node test.js invocations; done would require an agreed subcommand design and a semver-major deprecation plan.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
node.js
Domain
cli
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
20/100

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