https://github.com/marco-m/clim

command-line argument parsing for Go
https://github.com/marco-m/clim

cli command-line command-line-parser getopt parsing

Last synced: 10 months ago
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command-line argument parsing for Go

• Host: GitHub
• URL: https://github.com/marco-m/clim
• Owner: marco-m
• License: mit
• Created: 2023-12-11T20:48:36.000Z (over 2 years ago)
• Default Branch: master
• Last Pushed: 2025-06-30T20:17:29.000Z (12 months ago)
• Last Synced: 2025-08-26T09:46:21.096Z (10 months ago)
• Topics: cli, command-line, command-line-parser, getopt, parsing
• Language: Go
• Homepage:
• Size: 120 KB
• Stars: 0
• Watchers: 2
• Forks: 0
• Open Issues: 0
• Metadata Files:
  • Readme: README.md
  • License: LICENSE

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README

          
# 🫧  clim  🫧

[![Go Reference](https://pkg.go.dev/badge/github.com/marco-m/clim.svg)](https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/marco-m/clim)

[![Build Status](https://api.cirrus-ci.com/github/marco-m/clim.svg?branch=master)](https://cirrus-ci.com/github/marco-m/clim)

Command-line argument parsing for Go:

* Simple, small, can parse anything via the Value interface.

* No calls to os.Exit: easy to test, total control over termination.

* No output behind your back, always returns a string: easy to test.

* Support for subcommands.

* Support for help.

* Support for subcommand groups.

## How does it look like?

```console

$ go run ./examples/hg -h

hg -- Mercurial Distributed SCM

Usage: hg  [options]

available commands:

Repository creation:

 clone        make a copy of an existing repository

 init         create a new repository in the given directory

Remote repository management:

 incoming     show new changesets found in source

 outgoing     show changesets not found in the destination

Options:

 -h, --help    Print this help and exit

```

Let's follow a subcommand:

```console

$ go run ./examples/hg incoming -h

hg incoming -- show new changesets found in source

Usage: hg incoming [options]

Options:

 --bundle FILE             file to store the bundles into

 -f, --force               run even if remote repository is unrelated (default: false)

 -n, --newest-first        show newest record first (default: false)

 -r, --rev REV[,REV,..]    remote changeset(s) intended to be added

 -h, --help                Print this help and exit

```

It also supports optional multi-line description, multi-line examples and multi-line footer:

```console

$ go run ./examples/flat -h

flat -- bangs head against wall

 Long description.

 Could be multi-line.

Usage: flat [options]

Examples:

 One or more examples.

 Could be multi-line.

Options:

 -c, --count N              How many times (default: 3)

 --dry-run                  Enable dry-run (default: false)

 -s, --sequence N[,N,..]    bang sequence (default: 1,2,3)

 --wall WALL                Type of wall (default: cardboard)

 -h, --help                 Print this help and exit

 For more information, see https://www.example.org/

```

## Examples

See directory [examples](examples/).

## Testing

There are two ways to test a program using clim. Pick the one you prefer:

1. Directly with Go tests.

2. With [rogpeppe/go-internal/testscript](https://github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal). If you are not familiar with testscript, try it. It is both powerful and simple. For a gentle introduction, see the blog series:

   [Test scripts in Go](https://bitfieldconsulting.com/posts/test-scripts).

In particular, see [examples/flat](examples/flat), where the two approaches are shown.

## Status

Version 0.x, API can have breaking changes.

## Credits

Some code and inspiration taken from std/flag.