https://github.com/matthewdeanmartin/totalhelp
View help for all commands and subcommands for arbitrary commands or augment your app to do so.
https://github.com/matthewdeanmartin/totalhelp
application-augmentation automation cli-tools command-line documentation help user-guide
Last synced: 4 months ago
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View help for all commands and subcommands for arbitrary commands or augment your app to do so.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/matthewdeanmartin/totalhelp
- Owner: matthewdeanmartin
- License: mit
- Created: 2025-09-28T17:13:42.000Z (8 months ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2026-01-13T23:50:39.000Z (4 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2026-01-19T04:24:33.800Z (4 months ago)
- Topics: application-augmentation, automation, cli-tools, command-line, documentation, help, user-guide
- Language: Python
- Size: 341 KB
- Stars: 0
- Watchers: 0
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- Changelog: CHANGELOG.md
- License: LICENSE
- Security: SECURITY.md
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
## totalhelp
An implementation of the totalhelp PEP.
This module provides monolithic help output for Python argparse
applications, including those with deeply nested subcommands.
[
](https://github.com/matthewdeanmartin/totalhelp/actions/workflows/tests.yml)
[
](https://results.pre-commit.ci/latest/github/matthewdeanmartin/totalhelp/main)
[](https://pypistats.org/packages/totalhelp)
[
](https://pypi.org/project/totalhelp/)
## Usage
Works best with python tools that use Argparse.
```bash
totalhelp llm
totalhelp pipx
```
Caveats
- Help text is not a standard parsable format, so discovery of command names may fail.
- Can surface problems with applications that have slow startup.
## Features
- Monolithic Help: Generate a single help document
for your entire CLI, including all subcommands.
- Multiple Formats: Output to plain text, Markdown, or self-contained
HTML.
- Drop-in Integration: Add a --totalhelp flag to your existing ArgumentParser with a single function call. No
subclassing required.
- Optional rich support: If totalhelp[rich] is installed, get beautifully formatted terminal
output.
- External Tool Inspection: A best-effort mode to generate help for third-party CLIs you don't
control.
- InstallationInstall the base package: `pip install .`
To include optional rich formatting support:`pip install .[rich]`
## Quick Start
Integrate it into your application in three steps.
1. Build your parser as usual.
```python
# my_cli.py
import argparse
def create_parser():
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="A complex tool.")
subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(dest="command", title="Available Commands")
# Command 'remote'
remote_parser = subparsers.add_parser("remote", help="Manage remotes")
remote_subparsers = remote_parser.add_subparsers(dest="remote_command")
remote_add_parser = remote_subparsers.add_parser("add", help="Add a remote")
remote_add_parser.add_argument("name", help="Name of the remote")
remote_add_parser.add_argument("url", help="URL of the remote")
# Command 'log'
log_parser = subparsers.add_parser("log", help="Show commit logs")
log_parser.add_argument("--oneline", action="store_true", help="Show logs in a compact format")
return parser
```
2. Add the --totalhelp flag.
```python
# my_cli.py (continued)
import sys
import totalhelp
parser = create_parser()
# Add the flag. That's it.
totalhelp.add_totalhelp_flag(parser)
```
3. Check for the flag after parsing arguments.
```python
# my_cli.py (continued)
if __name__ == "__main__":
args = parser.parse_args()
# If --totalhelp was passed, generate and print the doc, then exit.
if getattr(args, "totalhelp", False):
doc = totalhelp.full_help_from_parser(
parser,
fmt=getattr(args, "format", "text")
)
totalhelp.print_output(
doc,
fmt=getattr(args, "format", "text"),
open_browser=getattr(args, "open", False)
)
sys.exit(0)
# --- Your normal CLI logic goes here ---
print(f"Normal execution with args: {args}")
```
Now you can run your app to see the monolithic help:
#### Get full help in the terminal
```bash
python my_cli.py --totalhelp
```
#### Generate a Markdown document
```bash
python my_cli.py --totalhelp --format md > DOCS.md
```
#### Generate and open an HTML file in your browser
```bash
python my_cli.py --totalhelp --format html --open
```