Command Line ArgsUsage Guide

Usage Guide

Complete guide to parsing command-line arguments.

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Usage Guide

Option Definitions

import { parseArgs } from "@visulima/command-line-args";

const definitions = [
    {
        name: "file",           // Long option: --file
        alias: "f",             // Short option: -f
        type: String,           // Type conversion
        defaultValue: "in.txt", // Default value
        multiple: false,        // Single value (default)
    },
];

const options = parseArgs(definitions);

Type Conversion

String:

{ name: "file", type: String }
// --file input.txt → { file: "input.txt" }

Number:

{ name: "count", type: Number }
// --count 42 → { count: 42 }

Boolean:

{ name: "verbose", type: Boolean }
// --verbose → { verbose: true }
// (no flag) → { verbose: false }

Multiple Values

const options = parseArgs([
    { name: "include", type: String, multiple: true },
]);

// node script.js --include src --include lib --include test
// { include: ["src", "lib", "test"] }

Default Option (Positional)

const options = parseArgs([
    { name: "files", type: String, multiple: true, defaultOption: true },
]);

// node script.js file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt
// { files: ["file1.txt", "file2.txt", "file3.txt"] }

Partial Parsing

const options = parseArgs(definitions, { partial: true });
// Unknown options are preserved in _unknown array

Stop Early

const options = parseArgs(definitions, { stopAtFirstUnknown: true });
// Stops parsing at first unknown option

Camel Case

const options = parseArgs(definitions, { camelCase: true });
// --my-option becomes myOption

Complete Example

import { parseArgs } from "@visulima/command-line-args";

const options = parseArgs([
    { name: "input", alias: "i", type: String, defaultValue: "stdin" },
    { name: "output", alias: "o", type: String, defaultValue: "stdout" },
    { name: "verbose", alias: "v", type: Boolean },
    { name: "port", alias: "p", type: Number, defaultValue: 3000 },
    { name: "include", type: String, multiple: true },
    { name: "files", type: String, multiple: true, defaultOption: true },
]);

// node script.js -i data.json -o result.json -v -p 8080 --include lib --include src file1.js file2.js
// Result:
// {
//   input: "data.json",
//   output: "result.json",
//   verbose: true,
//   port: 8080,
//   include: ["lib", "src"],
//   files: ["file1.js", "file2.js"]
// }
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