Changelog
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.)
Added
- support for multiple command aliases, the first of which is shown in the auto-generated help (#531, #1236)
- configuration support in
addCommand()
for hidden
and isDefault
(#1232)
Fixed
- omit masked help flags from the displayed help (#645, #1247)
- remove old short help flag when change help flags using
helpOption
(#1248)
Changed
- remove use of
arguments
to improve auto-generated help in editors (#1235)
- rename
.command()
configuration noHelp
to hidden
(but not remove old support) (#1232)
- improvements to documentation
- update dependencies
- update tested versions of node
- eliminate lint errors in TypeScript (#1208)
Added
- support for nested commands with action-handlers (#1 #1149)
.addCommand()
for adding a separately configured command (#764)
- allow a non-executable to be set as the default command (#742)
- implicit help command when there are subcommands (previously only if executables) (#1149)
- customise implicit help command with
.addHelpCommand()
(#1149)
- display error message for unknown subcommand, by default (#432 #1149)
- display help for missing subcommand, by default (#1088)
- combined short options as single argument may include boolean flags and value flag and value (e.g.
-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)
- optionally specify where
.parse()
arguments “from”, if not following node conventions (#512)
- suggest help option along with unknown command error (#1179)
- TypeScript definition for
commands
property of Command
(#1184)
- export
program
property (#1195)
createCommand
factory method to simplify subclassing (#1191)
Fixed
- preserve argument order in subcommands (#508 #1138)
- do not emit
command:*
for executable subcommands (#809)
- action handler called whether or not there are non-option arguments (#1062)
- combining option short flag and value in single argument now works for subcommands (#1145)
- only add implicit help command when it will not conflict with other uses of argument (#1153)
- implicit help command works with command aliases (#948)
- options are validated whether or not there is an action handler (#1149)
Changed
- Breaking
.args
contains command arguments with just recognised options removed (#1032)
- Breaking display error if required argument for command is missing (#995)
- tighten TypeScript definition of custom option processing function passed to
.option()
(#1119)
- Breaking
.allowUnknownOption()
(#802)
- unknown options included in arguments passed to command action handler
- unknown options included in
.args
- only recognised option short flags and long flags are expanded (e.g.
-ab
or --foo=bar
) (#1145)
- Breaking
.parseOptions()
(#1138)
args
in returned result renamed operands
and does not include anything after first unknown option
unknown
in returned result has arguments after first unknown option including operands, not just options and values
- Breaking
.on('command:*', callback)
and other command events passed (changed) results from .parseOptions
, i.e. operands and unknown (#1138)
- refactor Option from prototype to class (#1133)
- refactor Command from prototype to class (#1159)
- changes to error handling (#1165)
- throw for author error, not just display message
- preflight for variadic error
- add tips to missing subcommand executable
- TypeScript fluent return types changed to be more subclass friendly, return
this
rather than Command
(#1180)
.parseAsync
returns Promise<this>
to be consistent with .parse()
(#1180)
- update dependencies
Removed
- removed EventEmitter from TypeScript definition for Command, eliminating implicit peer dependency on
@types/node
(#1146)
- removed private function
normalize
(the functionality has been integrated into parseOptions
) (#1145)
parseExpectedArgs
is now private (#1149)
Migration Tips
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.
(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)
Fixed
- TypeScript definition for
.action()
should include Promise for async (#1157)
Added
- two routines to change how option values are handled, and eliminate name clashes with command properties (#933)
- see storeOptionsAsProperties and passCommandToAction in README
.parseAsync
to use instead of .parse
if supply async action handlers (#806)
Fixed
- Remove trailing blanks from wrapped help text (#1096)
Changed
- update dependencies
- extend security coverage for Commander 2.x to 2020-02-03
- improvements to README
- improvements to TypeScript definition documentation
- move old versions out of main CHANGELOG
- removed explicit use of
ts-node
in tests
Fixed
- display help when requested, even if there are missing required options (#1091)
Added
- automatically wrap and indent help descriptions for options and commands (#1051)
.exitOverride()
allows override of calls to process.exit
for additional error handling and to keep program running (#1040)
- support for declaring required options with
.requiredOptions()
(#1071)
- GitHub Actions support (#1027)
- translation links in README
Changed
- dev: switch tests from Sinon+Should to Jest with major rewrite of tests (#1035)
- call default subcommand even when there are unknown options (#1047)
- Breaking Commander is only officially supported on Node 8 and above, and requires Node 6 (#1053)
Fixed
- Breaking keep command object out of program.args when action handler called (#1048)
- also, action handler now passed array of unknown arguments
- complain about unknown options when program argument supplied and action handler (#1049)
- this changes parameters to
command:*
event to include unknown arguments
- removed deprecated
customFds
option from call to child_process.spawn
(#1052)
- rework TypeScript declarations to bring all types into imported namespace (#1081)
Migration Tips
Testing for no arguments
If you were previously using code like:
if (!program.args.length) ...
a partial replacement is:
if (program.rawArgs.length < 3) ...
4.0.0-1 Prerelease (2019-10-08)
(Released in 4.0.0)
4.0.0-0 Prerelease (2019-10-01)
(Released in 4.0.0)
Fixed
- Improve tracking of executable subcommands.
Changed
- update development dependencies
Fixed
- Improve tracking of executable subcommands.
Changed
- update development dependencies
Added
- .name and .usage to README (#1010)
- Table of Contents to README (#1010)
- TypeScript definition for
executableFile
in CommandOptions (#1028)
Changed
- consistently use
const
rather than var
in README (#1026)
Fixed
- help for sub commands with custom executableFile (#1018)
3.0.0 / 2019-08-08
- Add option to specify executable file name (#999)
- e.g.
.command('clone', 'clone description', { executableFile: 'myClone' })
- Change docs for
.command
to contrast action handler vs git-style executable. (#938)
- Breaking Change TypeScript to use overloaded function for
.command
. (#938)
- Change to use straight quotes around strings in error messages (like ‘this’ instead of `this’) (#915)
- Add TypeScript “reference types” for node (#974)
- Add support for hyphen as an option argument in subcommands (#697)
- Add support for a short option flag and its value to be concatenated for action handler subcommands (#599)
- e.g.
-p 80
can also be supplied as -p80
- Add executable arguments to spawn in win32, for git-style executables (#611)
- e.g.
node --harmony myCommand.js clone
- Add parent command as prefix of subcommand in help (#980)
- Add optional custom description to
.version
(#963)
- e.g.
program.version('0.0.1', '-v, --vers', 'output the current version')
- Add
.helpOption(flags, description)
routine to customise help flags and description (#963)
- e.g.
.helpOption('-e, --HELP', 'read more information')
- Fix behavior of --no-* options (#795)
- can now define both
--foo
and --no-foo
- Breaking custom event listeners:
--no-foo
on cli now emits option:no-foo
(previously option:foo
)
- Breaking default value: defining
--no-foo
after defining --foo
leaves the default value unchanged (previously set it to false)
- allow boolean default value, such as from environment (#987)
- Increment inspector port for spawned subcommands (#991)
- e.g.
node --inspect myCommand.js clone
Migration Tips
The custom event for a negated option like --no-foo
is option:no-foo
(previously option:foo
).
program
.option('--no-foo')
.on('option:no-foo', () => {
console.log('removing foo');
});
When using TypeScript, adding a command does not allow an explicit undefined
for an unwanted executable description (e.g
for a command with an action handler).
program
.command('action1', undefined, { noHelp: true }) // No longer valid
.command('action2', { noHelp: true }) // Correct
3.0.0-0 Prerelease / 2019-07-28
(Released as 3.0.0)
Older versions