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yargs

A JavaScript library for building command line tools that parse arguments and generate help menus.

GitHub Download v18.2.0
Stars
11.5k
Forks
1.1k
Licence
MIT
Language
JavaScript
Last update
6 days ago
Type
Library

What it is

Yargs is a Node.js library that reads the options and commands a user types into a terminal and turns them into values your program can use. It also builds a help menu automatically from the options you define, and can generate Bash and Zsh completion scripts. Developers use it when they want a command line program with subcommands and flags without writing that parsing code by hand.

  • Build a CLI with a serve command that takes a port option, as shown in the README's complex example
  • Add a verbose boolean flag with a short alias such as -v
  • Generate Bash or Zsh completion scripts for your command
  • Provide typed argument parsing in a TypeScript project using @types/yargs

Great for

  • Node.js developers building command line tools with subcommands and flags
  • Teams who want an automatically generated --help menu
  • Developers who need shell completion scripts for their CLI
  • Developers who want TypeScript type definitions for argument parsing

Not ideal for

  • Non-developers looking for an end-user application, since this is a library you code against
  • Projects that do not use Node.js or JavaScript, since the library is written for that ecosystem
  • Very simple scripts that only read process.argv directly, where a library adds unnecessary weight
Step-by-step guide: how to use yargsInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs
Commander.js vs yargs

How to get it

  1. 1

    Install with a package manager

    You'll need: Node.js (version not specified in the README) · npm

    Install yargs with npm

    npm i yargs

    Install TypeScript type definitions (optional, for TypeScript projects)

    npm i @types/yargs --save-dev
  2. 2

    Run it

    • Install the package with npm i yargs
    • Create a script that imports yargs and hideBin from yargs/helpers
    • Parse arguments with yargs(hideBin(process.argv)).parse()
    • Run your script with flags such as --ships=4 to see the parsed values
  3. 3

    Get the most out of it

    • Use .command() to group related actions into subcommands, as in the serve example
    • Use .positional() to set defaults and descriptions for positional arguments
    • Add aliases such as alias: 'v' to options for short flags
    • Read the API, examples, and advanced docs linked from the README for configuration and parser customization

Downloads

Source code (.zip)main branch · straight from GitHubRelease v18.2.0Release notes and sourceOfficial website & docsyargs.js.org/

Strengths

  • Automatically generates a help menu from your option definitions
  • Supports commands, grouped options, and shell completion
  • Has type definitions available for TypeScript users

Trade-offs

  • Requires writing JavaScript or TypeScript code; it is not a ready-made tool to run directly
  • The README is short and points to separate docs for the full API and advanced topics
  • The README does not state a specific minimum Node.js version; it only says it tracks Node.js release schedules

Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.