# command-line-args > A mature, feature-complete library to parse command-line options. Latest version **6.0.2** (published 2026-03-23) · MIT license · 0 weekly downloads ## Install ```sh npm install command-line-args pnpm add command-line-args yarn add command-line-args bun add command-line-args ``` ## Health **Score 63/100 (C)** — status: active. Positive: has types package; esm support; no vulnerabilities; high maintenance score; high quality score. Warnings: low downloads. ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Version | 6.0.2 | | Published | 2026-03-23 | | First published | 2014-05-26 | | Weekly downloads | 0 | | License | MIT | | TypeScript types | separate (@types/command-line-args) | | Module format | ESM | | Node | >=12.20 | | Dependencies | 4 | | Unpacked size | 66.5 KB | | Known vulnerabilities | 0 | | Install scripts | no | | GitHub stars | 719 | | Author | Lloyd Brookes | | Maintainers | 75lb | | Keywords | argv, parse, argument, args, option, options, parser, parsing, cli, command, line | ## Links - npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/command-line-args - Repository: https://github.com/75lb/command-line-args - Homepage: https://github.com/75lb/command-line-args#readme - Issues: https://github.com/75lb/command-line-args/issues - npm.io page: https://npm.io/package/command-line-args ## Dependencies (4) - [typical](https://npm.io/package/typical.md) ^7.3.0 - [array-back](https://npm.io/package/array-back.md) ^6.2.3 - [find-replace](https://npm.io/package/find-replace.md) ^5.0.2 - [lodash.camelcase](https://npm.io/package/lodash.camelcase.md) ^4.3.0 ## Alternatives - [@salesforce/cli](https://npm.io/package/@salesforce/cli.md) — 389.7K weekly downloads - [@mintlify/cli](https://npm.io/package/@mintlify/cli.md) — 208.9K weekly downloads - [@grafana/e2e-selectors](https://npm.io/package/@grafana/e2e-selectors.md) — 128.7K weekly downloads - [mintlify](https://npm.io/package/mintlify.md) — 112.0K weekly downloads - [@intlayer/cli](https://npm.io/package/@intlayer/cli.md) — 22.8K weekly downloads ## Recent versions - 6.0.2 (latest) — 2026-03-23 - 6.0.1 — 2024-10-28 - 6.0.0 — 2024-07-05 - 5.2.1 — 2022-01-29 - 5.2.0 — 2021-07-29 - 5.1.3 — 2021-07-12 - 5.1.2 — 2021-07-11 - 5.1.1 — 2019-03-31 - 5.1.0 — 2019-03-24 - 6.0.0-preview.1 — 2018-06-25 - 5.0.2 — 2018-02-07 - 5.0.1 — 2018-01-19 - 5.0.0 — 2018-01-17 - 5.0.0-alpha.2 — 2018-01-17 - 5.0.0-alpha.1 — 2018-01-16 - … 61 more at https://npm.io/package/command-line-args/versions ## README [![view on npm](https://badgen.net/npm/v/command-line-args)](https://www.npmjs.org/package/command-line-args) [![npm module downloads](https://badgen.net/npm/dt/command-line-args)](https://www.npmjs.org/package/command-line-args) [![Gihub repo dependents](https://badgen.net/github/dependents-repo/75lb/command-line-args)](https://github.com/75lb/command-line-args/network/dependents?dependent_type=REPOSITORY) [![Gihub package dependents](https://badgen.net/github/dependents-pkg/75lb/command-line-args)](https://github.com/75lb/command-line-args/network/dependents?dependent_type=PACKAGE) [![Node.js CI](https://github.com/75lb/command-line-args/actions/workflows/node.js.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/75lb/command-line-args/actions/workflows/node.js.yml) ***Upgraders, please read the [release notes](https://github.com/75lb/command-line-args/releases)*** # command-line-args A mature, feature-complete library to parse command-line options. ## Synopsis You can set options using the main notation standards ([learn more](https://github.com/75lb/command-line-args/wiki/Notation-rules)). These commands are all equivalent, setting the same values: ``` $ example --verbose --timeout=1000 --src one.js --src two.js $ example --verbose --timeout 1000 --src one.js two.js $ example -vt 1000 --src one.js two.js $ example -vt 1000 one.js two.js ``` To access the values, first create a list of [option definitions](https://github.com/75lb/command-line-args/blob/master/doc/option-definition.md) describing the options your application accepts. The [`type`](https://github.com/75lb/command-line-args/blob/master/doc/option-definition.md#optiontype--function) property is a setter function (the value supplied is passed through this), giving you full control over the value received. ```js const optionDefinitions = [ { name: 'verbose', alias: 'v', type: Boolean }, { name: 'src', type: String, multiple: true, defaultOption: true }, { name: 'timeout', alias: 't', type: Number } ] ``` Next, parse the options using [commandLineArgs()](https://github.com/75lb/command-line-args/blob/master/doc/API.md#commandlineargsoptiondefinitions-options--object-): ```js import commandLineArgs from 'command-line-args' const options = commandLineArgs(optionDefinitions) ``` `options` now looks like this: ```js { src: [ 'one.js', 'two.js' ], verbose: true, timeout: 1000 } ``` ### Advanced usage Beside the above typical usage, you can configure command-line-args to accept more advanced syntax forms. * [Command-based syntax](https://github.com/75lb/command-line-args/wiki/Implement-command-parsing-(git-style)) (git style) in the form: ``` $ executable [options] ``` For example. ``` $ git commit --squash -m "This is my commit message" ``` * [Command and sub-command syntax](https://github.com/75lb/command-line-args/wiki/Implement-multiple-command-parsing-(docker-style)) (docker style) in the form: ``` $ executable [options] [options] ``` For example. ``` $ docker run --detached --image centos bash -c yum install -y httpd ``` ## Usage guide generation A usage guide (typically printed when `--help` is set) can be generated using [command-line-usage](https://github.com/75lb/command-line-usage). See the examples below and [read the documentation](https://github.com/75lb/command-line-usage) for instructions how to create them. A typical usage guide example. ![usage](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/75lb/command-line-usage/master/example/screens/footer.png) The [polymer-cli](https://github.com/Polymer/polymer-cli/) usage guide is a good real-life example. ![usage](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/75lb/command-line-usage/master/example/screens/polymer.png) ## Further Reading There is plenty more to learn, please see [the wiki](https://github.com/75lb/command-line-args/wiki) for examples and documentation. ## Install ```sh $ npm install command-line-args --save ``` * * * © 2014-26 [Lloyd Brookes](https://github.com/75lb) \. Documented by [jsdoc-to-markdown](https://github.com/jsdoc2md/jsdoc-to-markdown). --- _Source: https://npm.io/package/command-line-args · Machine-readable twin of the npm.io package page. Health data is recomputed on every publish._