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Merged
merged 4 commits into from
Nov 23, 2025
+20 −8
Merged

gh-141679: Add colour to defaults in argparse help #141680

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1dab483
argparse: add colour to defaults in help
hugovk Nov 9, 2025
4f52426
Add blurb
hugovk Nov 17, 2025
1a9f662
Fix typo
hugovk Nov 17, 2025
e183ee2
Merge branch 'main' into 3.15-argparse-default-colour
savannahostrowski Nov 23, 2025
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2 changes: 2 additions & 0 deletions Lib/_colorize.py
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Expand Up @@ -168,6 +168,8 @@ class Argparse(ThemeSection):
short_option: str = ANSIColors.BOLD_GREEN
label: str = ANSIColors.BOLD_YELLOW
action: str = ANSIColors.BOLD_GREEN
default: str = ANSIColors.GREY
default_value: str = ANSIColors.YELLOW
reset: str = ANSIColors.RESET
error: str = ANSIColors.BOLD_MAGENTA
warning: str = ANSIColors.BOLD_YELLOW
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9 changes: 8 additions & 1 deletion Lib/argparse.py
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Expand Up @@ -748,7 +748,14 @@ def _get_help_string(self, action):
if action.default is not SUPPRESS:
defaulting_nargs = [OPTIONAL, ZERO_OR_MORE]
if action.option_strings or action.nargs in defaulting_nargs:
help += _(' (default: %(default)s)')
t = self._theme
default_str = _(" (default: %(default)s)")
prefix, suffix = default_str.split("%(default)s")
help += (
f" {t.default}{prefix.lstrip()}"
f"{t.default_value}%(default)s"
f"{t.default}{suffix}{t.reset}"
)
return help


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16 changes: 9 additions & 7 deletions Lib/test/test_argparse.py
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Expand Up @@ -7288,6 +7288,8 @@ def test_argparse_color(self):
short_b = self.theme.short_option
label_b = self.theme.label
pos_b = self.theme.action
default = self.theme.default
default_value = self.theme.default_value
reset = self.theme.reset

# Act
Expand All @@ -7314,17 +7316,17 @@ def test_argparse_color(self):

{heading}options:{reset}
{short_b}-h{reset}, {long_b}--help{reset} show this help message and exit
{short_b}-v{reset}, {long_b}--verbose{reset} more spam (default: False)
{short_b}-q{reset}, {long_b}--quiet{reset} less spam (default: False)
{short_b}-v{reset}, {long_b}--verbose{reset} more spam {default}(default: {default_value}False{default}){reset}
{short_b}-q{reset}, {long_b}--quiet{reset} less spam {default}(default: {default_value}False{default}){reset}
{short_b}-o{reset}, {long_b}--optional1{reset}
{long_b}--optional2{reset} {label_b}OPTIONAL2{reset}
pick one (default: None)
pick one {default}(default: {default_value}None{default}){reset}
{long_b}--optional3{reset} {label_b}{{X,Y,Z}}{reset}
{long_b}--optional4{reset} {label_b}{{X,Y,Z}}{reset} pick one (default: None)
{long_b}--optional5{reset} {label_b}{{X,Y,Z}}{reset} pick one (default: None)
{long_b}--optional6{reset} {label_b}{{X,Y,Z}}{reset} pick one (default: None)
{long_b}--optional4{reset} {label_b}{{X,Y,Z}}{reset} pick one {default}(default: {default_value}None{default}){reset}
{long_b}--optional5{reset} {label_b}{{X,Y,Z}}{reset} pick one {default}(default: {default_value}None{default}){reset}
{long_b}--optional6{reset} {label_b}{{X,Y,Z}}{reset} pick one {default}(default: {default_value}None{default}){reset}
{short_b}-p{reset}, {long_b}--optional7{reset} {label_b}{{Aaaaa,Bbbbb,Ccccc,Ddddd}}{reset}
pick one (default: None)
pick one {default}(default: {default_value}None{default}){reset}
{short_b}+f{reset} {label_b}F{reset}
{long_b}++bar{reset} {label_b}BAR{reset}
{long_b}-+baz{reset} {label_b}BAZ{reset}
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1 change: 1 addition & 0 deletions Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2025-11-17-21-41-58.gh-issue-141679.fs7zLJ.rst
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@@ -0,0 +1 @@
Add colour to defaults in :mod:`argparse` help. Patch by Hugo van Kemenade.
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