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API for Version: v0.3.0

StrictArgs is a NodeJS library intended to make the process of creating command line tools in NodeJS straightforward and end-user friendly.

StrictArgs is published as strict-args on NPM.

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Quickstart

To start, import strict-args as a (non-dev) dependency:

npm install --save strict-args

Then declare the available commands and flags for your tool:

import {StrictArgs, FlagType} from "strict-args";

const strictArgs = new StrictArgs(
    // The name of your tool. This should match how the tool is invoked in the
    // command line, ie. if one types "fakecli" then the name here should be
    // "fakecli".
    /* name= */ "fakecli",
    // The description of your tool. This is printed on the various help screens
    // that StrictArgs will render if needed.
    /* description= */ "A fake CLI that does something interesting.");

// Declare commands, including optional flags for those commands.
strictArgs.registerCommand({
  name: "start",
  description: "Starts the webserver on port 8080.",
  flags: [
    {
      name: "debug",
      description: "If present, enables debug mode.",
      type: FlagType.FLAG, // flags don't take values
    },
    {
      name: "port",
      description: "Optional port for the server to run on. Defaults to 8080.",
      default: "8080",
      type: FlagType.PROPERTY, // properties take values
    },
  ],
});
strictArgs.registerCommand({
  name: "stop",
  description: "Stops any running webserver.",
});

// Optionally register global flags, ie. flags that are available for any
// command.
strictArgs.registerGlobalFlag({
  name: "some-flag",
  description: "Does something interesting when present.",
});

// Register "command listeners". Command listeners are classes which implement
// a common interface, and have a class method which is called whenever the
// specified command is run.
// See the section on command listeners for more information.
strictArgs.addCommandListener("start", (a) => new StartCommandListener(a));

// Once all setup and registration is complete, run parse() to run the program.
// Command listeners will automatically be called if the user specifies a
// command and flags correctly, otherwise the program will exit with a message
// explaining to the user how to use the application / what they did wrong.
strictArgs.parse(process.argv);