Allow `nargs=-1` in options with a non-whitespace separator
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- Python
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Description
What should this feature do?
Allow parsing command line options with an arbitrary number of values. This would allow to type
cli arg1 arg2 --option 1, 2, 3
instead of the more tedious and less familiar
cli arg1 arg2 --option 1 --option 2 --option 3
This has been suggested in #2537. This request is different in that options with nargs=-1 would require an additional separator parameter, that has to be set to a non-whitespace character. This would mitigate the ambiguity issues of #2537.
I have contributed this feature to a downstream CLI library (https://github.com/fastapi/typer/pull/800) and would be happy to contribute the changes to click itself if this is something that you would like to see supported. The changes essentially imply adding a few lines to https://github.com/pallets/click/blob/4a758f5c38636ecd9d030356d85bcca3d8fbd0ca/src/click/core.py#L2267
Please comment accordingly.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start in src/click/core.py around line 2267 and compare the downstream Typer pull request linked in the issue. Confirm how an option with nargs=-1 and a required non-whitespace separator should parse values, then add coverage showing the comma-separated form is accepted and the existing repeated-option form remains valid.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- cli
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 48/100