All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
The format is based on Keep a Changelog and this project adheres to Semantic Versioning. (Format adopted after v3.0.0.)
parent
property on Command
(#1475).attributeName()
on Option
(#1483).cjs
to list of expected script file extensions (#1449)process.mainModule
(#1448)command('*')
and call when command line includes options (#1464)on('command:*', ...)
and call when command line includes unknown options (#1464).enablePositionalOptions()
to let program and subcommand reuse same option (#1427).passThroughOptions()
to pass options through to other programs without needing --
(#1427).allowExcessArguments(false)
to show an error message if there are too many command-arguments on command line for the action handler (#1409).configureOutput()
to modify use of stdout and stderr or customise display of errors (#1387).addHelpText()
to add text before or after the built-in help, for just current command or also for all subcommands (#1296).createOption()
to support subclassing of automatically created options (like .createCommand()
) (#1380)program.opts()
.storeOptionsAsProperties()
.help()
and .outputHelp()
(removed from README) (#1296)process.stderr.write()
instead of console.error()
.on('--help')
(removed from README) (#1296).passCommandToAction()
(#1409)
.allowExcessArguments(false)
The biggest change is the parsed option values. Previously the options were stored by default as properties on the command object, and now the options are stored separately.
If you wish to restore the old behaviour and get running quickly you can call .storeOptionsAsProperties()
.
To allow you to move to the new code patterns incrementally, the action handler will be passed the command twice,
to match the new “options” and “command” parameters (see below).
program options
Use the .opts()
method to access the options. This is available on any command but is used most with the program.
program.option('-d, --debug');
program.parse();
// Old code before Commander 7
if (program.debug) console.log(`Program name is ${program.name()}`);
// New code
const options = program.opts();
if (options.debug) console.log(`Program name is ${program.name()}`);
action handler
The action handler gets passed a parameter for each command-argument you declared. Previously by default the next parameter was the command object with the options as properties. Now the next two parameters are instead the options and the command. If you only accessed the options there may be no code changes required.
program
.command('compress <filename>')
.option('-t, --trace')
// Old code before Commander 7
.action((filename, cmd)) => {
if (cmd.trace) console.log(`Command name is ${cmd.name()}`);
});
// New code
.action((filename, options, command)) => {
if (options.trace) console.log(`Command name is ${command.name()}`);
});
If you already set .storeOptionsAsProperties(false)
you may still need to adjust your code.
program
.command('compress <filename>')
.storeOptionsAsProperties(false)
.option('-t, --trace')
// Old code before Commander 7
.action((filename, command)) => {
if (command.opts().trace) console.log(`Command name is ${command.name()}`);
});
// New code
.action((filename, options, command)) => {
if (command.opts().trace) console.log(`Command name is ${command.name()}`);
});
(Released in 7.0.0)
(Released in 7.0.0)
(Released in 7.0.0)
.description()
to describe command arguments (#1353).combineFlagAndOptionalValue(false)
to ease upgrade path from older versions of Commander (#1326).helpOption(false)
(#1325)argumentDescription
to .description()
(#1323)-n
accessed as opts().n
(previously uppercase)(Released in 6.0.0)
addCommand()
for hidden
and isDefault
(#1232)helpOption
(#1248)arguments
to improve auto-generated help in editors (#1235).command()
configuration noHelp
to hidden
(but not remove old support) (#1232).addCommand()
for adding a separately configured command (#764).addHelpCommand()
(#1149)-a -b -p 80
can be written as -abp80
) (#1145).parseOption()
includes short flag and long flag expansions (#1145).helpInformation()
returns help text as a string, previously a private routine (#1169).parse()
implicitly uses process.argv
if arguments not specified (#1172).parse()
arguments “from”, if not following node conventions (#512)commands
property of Command
(#1184)program
property (#1195)createCommand
factory method to simplify subclassing (#1191)command:*
for executable subcommands (#809).args
contains command arguments with just recognised options removed (#1032).option()
(#1119).allowUnknownOption()
(#802)
.args
-ab
or --foo=bar
) (#1145).parseOptions()
(#1138)
args
in returned result renamed operands
and does not include anything after first unknown optionunknown
in returned result has arguments after first unknown option including operands, not just options and values.on('command:*', callback)
and other command events passed (changed) results from .parseOptions
, i.e. operands and unknown (#1138)this
rather than Command
(#1180).parseAsync
returns Promise<this>
to be consistent with .parse()
(#1180)@types/node
(#1146)normalize
(the functionality has been integrated into parseOptions
) (#1145)parseExpectedArgs
is now private (#1149)If you use .on('command:*')
or more complicated tests to detect an unrecognised subcommand, you may be able to delete the code and rely on the default behaviour.
If you use program.args
or more complicated tests to detect a missing subcommand, you may be able to delete the code and rely on the default behaviour.
If you use .command('*')
to add a default command, you may be be able to switch to isDefault:true
with a named command.
If you want to continue combining short options with optional values as though they were boolean flags, set combineFlagAndOptionalValue(false)
to expand -fb
to -f -b
rather than -f b
.
(Released in 5.0.0)
(Released in 5.0.0)
(Released in 5.0.0)
(Released in 5.0.0)
(Released in 5.0.0)