Hide subcommand argument

[nxtn]

I'm building a CLI similar to dotnet where each subcommand has an optional argument. The top level help message looks like the following:

Commands:
  install <path-to-config>      ...
  uninstall <path-to-config>    ...
  start <path-to-config>        ...
  stop <path-to-config>         ...
  restart <path-to-config>      ...
  status <path-to-config>       ...
  test <path-to-config>         ...

I think this looks a bit messy and confusing - the argument seems to be required (<>) rather than optional ([<>]). Is it possible to hide the argument here?

[jonsequitur]

Would you rather hide it than add the [ ] around it to indicate it's optional? Is there a default value?

[nxtn]

I'd prefer to hide it to simplify the top level help message.

There isn't a default value. Its arity is ZeroOrOne. (null can be considered as the default. I use ZeroOrOne because [default: ] can't be hidden.)

[StevenRasmussen]

I'm looking for the ability to also hide both arguments and options from commands (either main or sub commands). My use case: I'm building a public CLI that others can use but it will also be used by another application (which I control). There are certain args/options that I only want this other application to use and know about. So when an end user queries the help I don't want those args/options to be output to the command line (mostly because it will add noise and confusion as an end user wouldn't know how these args/options are meant to be used). Thanks

[StevenRasmussen]

Also, if this is something where you would consider accepting a PR I'd be happy to try and work this out. It seems like it could be as simple as adding an IsHidden property to an arg and option and then simply check this at the time that the help text is written to the output window.

[jonsequitur]

@StevenRasmussen There's an IsHidden property on Symbol (i.e. Command, Option, and Argument). If you set that, is the help output what you're looking for? What changes would you like to see?

We'd absolutely appreciate a PR as long as we agree on the goal.

[StevenRasmussen]

@jonsequitur - Doh! I totally missed that 🤦‍♂️. Does exactly what I need! Thanks!

[nxtn]

Was this rejected?

[jonsequitur]

Nope. We're making the help API more flexible via #1229 which will make this kind of fine-grained customization easier.