@isaacs/cli-env-config

An options parser for environment variable configuration.

All options correspond to environment variables. So, if you define foo-bar, then you can use --foo-bar=value on the command line, or set MY_APP_FOO_BAR=value in the environment, and get fooBar: 'value' in the options object.

CLI options override the environment. Whatever the settings are, they are put into the environment, so your cli app can consume them from there, or from the options object it creates.

Options like --key=value and --key value are supported for value-taking keys. Switches are booleans, so --key sets them true. Counts are switches that return the number of times they're set. Multivars are options that can be set multiple times.

Counts are numbers. Switches are booleans. Options are stringly typed. Multivars are arrays of strings (zero-length when not set, so they're always an array).

In the environment, multivars are \n\n-delimited. Switches are set/read in the environment as '1' for true and '0' for false. Counts are set/read in the environment as decimal integer strings.

Short options are supported POSIX-style, so if -b is a shorthand for --bar switch, and -f is shorthand for the --foo option, then -bfasdf and -bf asdf are both equivalent to --bar --foo=asfd.

This library does not print your usage banner for you, sorry.

INSTALL

npm install cli-env-config

USAGE

Big illustrative example with all the fixins:

const { cliEnvConfig } = require('cli-env-config')

// create a config parser based on our app's needs
const parse = cliEnvConfig({
  // all envs are prefixed with 'MY_APP_...'
  prefix: 'MY_APP'

  // these take a value, stringly typed, last one wins
  options: ['api', 'foo'],

  // these are on or off.  '1' in env for true, '0' for false
  // string name, or [name, short flag].
  //
  // the camelcase name here is what ends up in the env.  the cli
  // flag is the css-case form, so --camel-case.
  // the env is prefixed with ${prefix}, and upper-snake case, so
  // MY_APP_CAMEL_CASE
  switches: ['camelCase', ['debug', 'd'], ['help', 'h']],
  // switch inverts make a switch be turned off
  // they don't end up on the config object
  //
  // And because I can never remember whether these sorts of
  // things need to be camel or css case, either works, but it's
  // always css-case in the cli, and always camelCase in the
  // config obj, obviously.
  switchInverts: [['no-debug', 'debug', 'D']],

  // these are set to the number of times they're specified
  counts: [['verbose', 'v']],
  // countDecrements make a counter go down
  countInverts: [['quiet', 'verbose', 'q']],

  // these return an array of all options, \n\n-delimited in env
  multivars: [['header', 'H']],

  // options:
  // true: leave unknown options in the argv array
  // false (default): throw an error on any unknown --option args
  allowUnknown: true,
})

// argv is what remains
// options is the resolved values
const {config, argv} = parse(process.argv.slice(2))

// then you can use the config object and the argv to do
// whatever, or just code against the process.env values.

More minimal/realistic example:

// create the parser
import { cliEnvConfig } from '@isaacs/cli-env-config'
const parseArgv = cliEnvConfig({
  prefix: 'MY_APP',
  options: [['apiUrl', 'a'], ['webUrl', 'w'], ['key', 'k'], 'authType'],
  switches: [
    ['debug', 'd'],
    ['help', 'h'],
  ],
  switchInverts: [['noDebug', 'debug', 'D']],
})


const main = () => {
  // use it
  const {argv, config} = parseArgv(process.argv.slice(2))
  if (config.help) {
    return console.log('Usage: myapp <thing|other> [options]')
  }
  const cmd = argv.shift()
  switch (cmd) {
    case 'thing': return doThing(argv, config)
    case 'other': return doOther(argv, config)
    default: throw `Unknown command: ${cmd}`
  }
}
main()

API

cliEnvConfig(configDefs: ConfigDef) => ConfigParseFunction

Return a function that parses an argv array and returns the config object and sets environment variables.

ConfigDef type

• prefix The name of your app. Required.
• options: Array of option name strings or [name, shortFlag] tuples. These keys must take a value.
• switches: Array of switch name strings or [name, shortFlag] tuples. These keys must not take a value, they are true if set.
• switchInverts: Array of [name, target] or [name, target, shortFlag] tuples. The target is a switch that this switch sets to false.
• counts: Array of counter name strings or [name, shortFlag] tuples. These may be set multiple times, each time increments the counter.
• countInverts: Array of [name, target] or [name, target, shortFlag] tuples. The target is a count that this switch decrements.
• multivars: Array of multivar name strings or [name, shortFlag] tuples. These take a value, and may be set multiple times. The resulting value is an array of all values provided.
• allowUnknown: Boolean, default false. Treats unrecognized -flag and --option arguments as positionals, including them in the returned argv
• env: The environment object to use, defaults to process.env

ConfigParseFunction

Returned by cliEnvConfig.

Parses an argv array of strings, returning a config object and argv of remaining positional arguments.

Stops parsing when -- is encountered, and includes the -- in the returned argv.

Sets all environment variables appropriately in the env object provided in the ConfigDef to cliEnvConfig().

Throws if the argv cannot be parsed correctly. (For example, if a value is provided to a switch type argument, or no value is provided to an option type argument.)

Option Types

• option Value must be provided. Uses the last value specified. Stored in the environment as the last string value. Set to an empty string with --name=.
• switch Value must not be provided. Boolean, set true by setting the option, or set false with a switchInvert argument. Stored in the environment as '1' for true and '0' for false.
• count Value must not be provided, may be specified multiple times. Integer, incremented by setting the option, or decremented by a countInvert argument. Set in the environment as a decimal string.
• multivar Value must be provided, may be specified multiple times. Array of all string values provided. Set in the environment as a \n\n-delimited list of all values provided.

WHY

The absolutely last thing that the npm registry needs in 2022 is yet another cli options parser, it's true.

But I found that I kept having to re-implement the same bit of functionality, where I'd check the env, then have the cli parser know to set this flag to that environment variable, use the env as a default but still override it when it's explicitly set, and so on. And then does the code use the env, or the an explicit option? Always a pile of decisions to be made, none of them entirely obvious. Sometimes I'd add a new config key, but forget to default it to the environment, so things would get out of sync.

I thought it might be easier to just have one way to do that, define a bunch of switches and options and booleans, and then get configuration and environment variable handling all included in one consistent thing, so the env is always set, the config always matches it, and the user can set it either way to get the same effect.

Also, all the other cli options definition systems were really verbose, even jackspeak which I specifically designed to be as terse as I could make it. I thought it might be nice to see how minimal I could get the interface.

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