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The complete solution for [node.js](http://nodejs.org) command-line interfaces, inspired by Ruby's [commander](https://github.com/commander-rb/commander).
Options with commander are defined with the `.option()` method, also serving as documentation for the options. The example below parses args and options from `process.argv`, leaving remaining args as the `program.args` array which were not consumed by options.
Short flags may be passed as a single arg, for example `-abc` is equivalent to `-a -b -c`. Multi-word options such as "--template-engine" are camel-cased, becoming `program.templateEngine` etc.
Note that multi-word options starting with `--no` prefix negate the boolean value of the following word. For example, `--no-sauce` sets the value of `program.sauce` to false.
```js
#!/usr/bin/env node
/**
* Module dependencies.
*/
var program = require('commander');
program
.option('--no-sauce', 'Remove sauce')
.parse(process.argv);
console.log('you ordered a pizza');
if (program.sauce) console.log(' with sauce');
else console.log(' without sauce');
```
## Version option
Calling the `version` implicitly adds the `-V` and `--version` options to the command.
When either of these options is present, the command prints the version number and exits.
$ ./examples/pizza -V
0.0.1
If you want your program to respond to the `-v` option instead of the `-V` option, simply pass custom flags to the `version` method using the same syntax as the `option` method.
```js
program
.version('0.0.1', '-v, --version')
```
The version flags can be named anything, but the long option is required.
A command's options are validated when the command is used. Any unknown options will be reported as an error. However, if an action-based command does not define an action, then the options are not validated.
When `.command()` is invoked with a description argument, no `.action(callback)` should be called to handle sub-commands, otherwise there will be an error. This tells commander that you're going to use separate executables for sub-commands, much like `git(1)` and other popular tools.
The commander will try to search the executables in the directory of the entry script (like `./examples/pm`) with the name `program-command`, like `pm-install`, `pm-search`.
Options can be passed with the call to `.command()`. Specifying `true` for `opts.noHelp` will remove the subcommand from the generated help output. Specifying `true` for `opts.isDefault` will run the subcommand if no other subcommand is specified.
If the program is designed to be installed globally, make sure the executables have proper modes, like `755`.
### `--harmony`
You can enable `--harmony` option in two ways:
* Use `#! /usr/bin/env node --harmony` in the sub-commands scripts. Note some os version don’t support this pattern.
* Use the `--harmony` option when call the command, like `node --harmony examples/pm publish`. The `--harmony` option will be preserved when spawning sub-command process.
## Automated --help
The help information is auto-generated based on the information commander already knows about your program, so the following `--help` info is for free:
```
$ ./examples/pizza --help
Usage: pizza [options]
An application for pizzas ordering
Options:
-h, --help output usage information
-V, --version output the version number
-p, --peppers Add peppers
-P, --pineapple Add pineapple
-b, --bbq Add bbq sauce
-c, --cheese <type> Add the specified type of cheese [marble]