nodejs / nodejs/node

Add support to print help/usage of util.parseArgs

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feature request
Dominant language
JavaScript
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Forks
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Avg merge
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

What is the problem this feature will solve?

An almost ubiquitous practice of writing a CLI is including a help command in the CLI itself. Currently anyone using util.parseArgs needs to write their own help command. This, in my opinion, makes parseArgs incomplete.

What is the feature you are proposing to solve the problem?

My suggestion is to include the ability to prin help/usage information generated directly from the config given to parseArgs. A minimum would be something along the lines of:

  1. Include help text for each ParseArgsOptionConfig to include help text for each option in particula:
foo: {    
 type: 'boolean',    
 short: 'f',   
 help: 'enable foo',
},
  1. Add a main help text to the ParseArgsConfig as well, to include details on what the CLI as a whole:
parseArgs({ 
  help: 'Use this command to achieve foo',
  options: {
    // ...
  }
});
  1. Add the --help/-h option to print the generated usage information either:
  • always add the --help/-h option, and automatically print the usage and exit the process when parsing the args (E.g. how python's builtin argparse does it); this would be a breaking change since it may conflict with other similar options implemented already.
  • add a new option to the ParseArgsConfig to enable autogenerated help option if desired
parseArgs({ 
  enableHelp: true,
  help: 'Use this command to achieve foo',
  options: {
    // ...
  }
});
  • simply provide a method to print the usage and let the user implement it themselves in userland
const { values, positionals, printUsage } = parseArgs({
  help: 'Use this command to achieve foo',
  options: {
    help: {
      type: "boolean",
      short: "h",
      help: "print command line options and exit"
    }
  }
});
if (values.help) {
  printUsage();
  process.exit(0);
}
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 at the util.parseArgs entry point and review the existing ParseArgsConfig and ParseArgsOptionConfig behavior. Resolve which help-generation API and --help/-h behavior should be supported; the work is done when the chosen design is implemented for command and option usage text.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
javascript, node.js
Domain
cli
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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