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Doc/library/argparse.rst
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Hugo van Kemenade
gh-142389: Add support for backtick colorisation in argparse help text (#149375)
05 май 2026, 01:58
05 май 2026, 01:58ffe050a
:mod:`!argparse` --- Parser for command-line options, arguments and subcommands
================================================================================

.. module:: argparse
   :synopsis: Command-line option and argument parsing library.

.. versionadded:: 3.2

**Source code:** :source:`Lib/argparse.py`

.. note::

   While :mod:`!argparse` is the default recommended standard library module
   for implementing basic command line applications, authors with more
   exacting requirements for exactly how their command line applications
   behave may find it doesn't provide the necessary level of control.
   Refer to :ref:`choosing-an-argument-parser` for alternatives to
   consider when ``argparse`` doesn't support behaviors that the application
   requires (such as entirely disabling support for interspersed options and
   positional arguments, or accepting option parameter values that start
   with ``-`` even when they correspond to another defined option).

--------------

.. sidebar:: Tutorial

   This page contains the API reference information. For a more gentle
   introduction to Python command-line parsing, have a look at the
   :ref:`argparse tutorial <argparse-tutorial>`.

The :mod:`!argparse` module makes it easy to write user-friendly command-line
interfaces. The program defines what arguments it requires, and :mod:`!argparse`
will figure out how to parse those out of :data:`sys.argv`.  The :mod:`!argparse`
module also automatically generates help and usage messages.  The module
will also issue errors when users give the program invalid arguments.

The :mod:`!argparse` module's support for command-line interfaces is built
around an instance of :class:`argparse.ArgumentParser`.  It is a container for
argument specifications and has options that apply to the parser as whole::

   parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
                       prog='ProgramName',
                       description='What the program does',
                       epilog='Text at the bottom of help')

The :meth:`ArgumentParser.add_argument` method attaches individual argument
specifications to the parser.  It supports positional arguments, options that
accept values, and on/off flags::

   parser.add_argument('filename')           # positional argument
   parser.add_argument('-c', '--count')      # option that takes a value
   parser.add_argument('-v', '--verbose',
                       action='store_true')  # on/off flag

The :meth:`ArgumentParser.parse_args` method runs the parser and places
the extracted data in a :class:`argparse.Namespace` object::

   args = parser.parse_args()
   print(args.filename, args.count, args.verbose)

.. note::
   If you're looking for a guide about how to upgrade :mod:`optparse` code
   to :mod:`!argparse`, see :ref:`Upgrading Optparse Code <upgrading-optparse-code>`.

ArgumentParser objects
----------------------

.. class:: ArgumentParser(prog=None, usage=None, description=None, \
                          epilog=None, parents=[], \
                          formatter_class=argparse.HelpFormatter, \
                          prefix_chars='-', fromfile_prefix_chars=None, \
                          argument_default=None, conflict_handler='error', \
                          add_help=True, allow_abbrev=True, exit_on_error=True, \
                          *, suggest_on_error=True, color=True)

   Create a new :class:`ArgumentParser` object. All parameters should be passed
   as keyword arguments. Each parameter has its own more detailed description
   below, but in short they are:

   * prog_ - The name of the program (default: generated from the ``__main__``
     module attributes and ``sys.argv[0]``)

   * usage_ - The string describing the program usage (default: generated from
     arguments added to parser)

   * description_ - Text to display before the argument help
     (by default, no text)

   * epilog_ - Text to display after the argument help (by default, no text)

   * parents_ - A list of :class:`ArgumentParser` objects whose arguments should
     also be included

   * formatter_class_ - A class for customizing the help output

   * prefix_chars_ - The set of characters that prefix optional arguments
     (default: '-')

   * fromfile_prefix_chars_ - The set of characters that prefix files from
     which additional arguments should be read (default: ``None``)

   * argument_default_ - The global default value for arguments
     (default: ``None``)

   * conflict_handler_ - The strategy for resolving conflicting optionals
     (usually unnecessary)

   * add_help_ - Add a ``-h/--help`` option to the parser (default: ``True``)

   * allow_abbrev_ - Allows long options to be abbreviated if the
     abbreviation is unambiguous (default: ``True``)

   * exit_on_error_ - Determines whether or not :class:`!ArgumentParser` exits with
     error info when an error occurs. (default: ``True``)

   * suggest_on_error_ - Enables suggestions for mistyped argument choices
     and subparser names (default: ``True``)

   * color_ - Allow color output (default: ``True``)

   .. versionchanged:: 3.5
      *allow_abbrev* parameter was added.

   .. versionchanged:: 3.8
      In previous versions, *allow_abbrev* also disabled grouping of short
      flags such as ``-vv`` to mean ``-v -v``.

   .. versionchanged:: 3.9
      *exit_on_error* parameter was added.

   .. versionchanged:: 3.14
      *suggest_on_error* and *color* parameters were added.

   .. versionchanged:: 3.15
      *suggest_on_error* default changed to ``True``.

The following sections describe how each of these are used.


.. _prog:

prog
^^^^


By default, :class:`ArgumentParser` calculates the name of the program
to display in help messages depending on the way the Python interpreter was run:

* The :func:`base name <os.path.basename>` of ``sys.argv[0]`` if a file was
  passed as argument.
* The Python interpreter name followed by ``sys.argv[0]`` if a directory or
  a zipfile was passed as argument.
* The Python interpreter name followed by ``-m`` followed by the
  module or package name if the :option:`-m` option was used.

This default is almost always desirable because it will make the help messages
match the string that was used to invoke the program on the command line.
However, to change this default behavior, another value can be supplied using
the ``prog=`` argument to :class:`ArgumentParser`::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='myprogram')
   >>> parser.print_help()
   usage: myprogram [-h]

   options:
    -h, --help  show this help message and exit

Note that the program name, whether determined from ``sys.argv[0]``,
from the ``__main__`` module attributes or from the
``prog=`` argument, is available to help messages using the ``%(prog)s`` format
specifier.

::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='myprogram')
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', help='foo of the %(prog)s program')
   >>> parser.print_help()
   usage: myprogram [-h] [--foo FOO]

   options:
    -h, --help  show this help message and exit
    --foo FOO   foo of the myprogram program

.. versionchanged:: 3.14
   The default ``prog`` value now reflects how ``__main__`` was actually executed,
   rather than always being ``os.path.basename(sys.argv[0])``.

usage
^^^^^

By default, :class:`ArgumentParser` calculates the usage message from the
arguments it contains. The default message can be overridden with the
``usage=`` keyword argument::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG', usage='%(prog)s [options]')
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', nargs='?', help='foo help')
   >>> parser.add_argument('bar', nargs='+', help='bar help')
   >>> parser.print_help()
   usage: PROG [options]

   positional arguments:
    bar          bar help

   options:
    -h, --help   show this help message and exit
    --foo [FOO]  foo help

The ``%(prog)s`` format specifier is available to fill in the program name in
your usage messages.

When a custom usage message is specified for the main parser, you may also want to
consider passing  the ``prog`` argument to :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_subparsers`
or the ``prog`` and the ``usage`` arguments to
:meth:`~_SubParsersAction.add_parser`, to ensure consistent command prefixes and
usage information across subparsers.


.. _description:

description
^^^^^^^^^^^

Most calls to the :class:`ArgumentParser` constructor will use the
``description=`` keyword argument.  This argument gives a brief description of
what the program does and how it works.  In help messages, the description is
displayed between the command-line usage string and the help messages for the
various arguments.

By default, the description will be line-wrapped so that it fits within the
given space.  To change this behavior, see the formatter_class_ argument.


epilog
^^^^^^

Some programs like to display additional description of the program after the
description of the arguments.  Such text can be specified using the ``epilog=``
argument to :class:`ArgumentParser`::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
   ...     description='A foo that bars',
   ...     epilog="And that's how you'd foo a bar")
   >>> parser.print_help()
   usage: argparse.py [-h]

   A foo that bars

   options:
    -h, --help  show this help message and exit

   And that's how you'd foo a bar

As with the description_ argument, the ``epilog=`` text is by default
line-wrapped, but this behavior can be adjusted with the formatter_class_
argument to :class:`ArgumentParser`.


parents
^^^^^^^

Sometimes, several parsers share a common set of arguments. Rather than
repeating the definitions of these arguments, a single parser with all the
shared arguments and passed to ``parents=`` argument to :class:`ArgumentParser`
can be used.  The ``parents=`` argument takes a list of :class:`ArgumentParser`
objects, collects all the positional and optional actions from them, and adds
these actions to the :class:`ArgumentParser` object being constructed::

   >>> parent_parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(add_help=False)
   >>> parent_parser.add_argument('--parent', type=int)

   >>> foo_parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(parents=[parent_parser])
   >>> foo_parser.add_argument('foo')
   >>> foo_parser.parse_args(['--parent', '2', 'XXX'])
   Namespace(foo='XXX', parent=2)

   >>> bar_parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(parents=[parent_parser])
   >>> bar_parser.add_argument('--bar')
   >>> bar_parser.parse_args(['--bar', 'YYY'])
   Namespace(bar='YYY', parent=None)

Note that most parent parsers will specify ``add_help=False``.  Otherwise, the
:class:`ArgumentParser` will see two ``-h/--help`` options (one in the parent
and one in the child) and raise an error.

.. note::
   You must fully initialize the parsers before passing them via ``parents=``.
   If you change the parent parsers after the child parser, those changes will
   not be reflected in the child.


.. _formatter_class:

formatter_class
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

:class:`ArgumentParser` objects allow the help formatting to be customized by
specifying an alternate formatting class.  Currently, there are four such
classes:

.. class:: RawDescriptionHelpFormatter
           RawTextHelpFormatter
           ArgumentDefaultsHelpFormatter
           MetavarTypeHelpFormatter

:class:`RawDescriptionHelpFormatter` and :class:`RawTextHelpFormatter` give
more control over how textual descriptions are displayed.
By default, :class:`ArgumentParser` objects line-wrap the description_ and
epilog_ texts in command-line help messages::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
   ...     prog='PROG',
   ...     description='''this description
   ...         was indented weird
   ...             but that is okay''',
   ...     epilog='''
   ...             likewise for this epilog whose whitespace will
   ...         be cleaned up and whose words will be wrapped
   ...         across a couple lines''')
   >>> parser.print_help()
   usage: PROG [-h]

   this description was indented weird but that is okay

   options:
    -h, --help  show this help message and exit

   likewise for this epilog whose whitespace will be cleaned up and whose words
   will be wrapped across a couple lines

Passing :class:`RawDescriptionHelpFormatter` as ``formatter_class=``
indicates that description_ and epilog_ are already correctly formatted and
should not be line-wrapped::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
   ...     prog='PROG',
   ...     formatter_class=argparse.RawDescriptionHelpFormatter,
   ...     description=textwrap.dedent('''\
   ...         Please do not mess up this text!
   ...         --------------------------------
   ...             I have indented it
   ...             exactly the way
   ...             I want it
   ...         '''))
   >>> parser.print_help()
   usage: PROG [-h]

   Please do not mess up this text!
   --------------------------------
      I have indented it
      exactly the way
      I want it

   options:
    -h, --help  show this help message and exit

:class:`RawTextHelpFormatter` maintains whitespace for all sorts of help text,
including argument descriptions. However, multiple newlines are replaced with
one. If you wish to preserve multiple blank lines, add spaces between the
newlines.

:class:`ArgumentDefaultsHelpFormatter` automatically adds information about
default values to each of the argument help messages::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
   ...     prog='PROG',
   ...     formatter_class=argparse.ArgumentDefaultsHelpFormatter)
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', type=int, default=42, help='FOO!')
   >>> parser.add_argument('bar', nargs='*', default=[1, 2, 3], help='BAR!')
   >>> parser.print_help()
   usage: PROG [-h] [--foo FOO] [bar ...]

   positional arguments:
    bar         BAR! (default: [1, 2, 3])

   options:
    -h, --help  show this help message and exit
    --foo FOO   FOO! (default: 42)

:class:`MetavarTypeHelpFormatter` uses the name of the type_ argument for each
argument as the display name for its values (rather than using the dest_
as the regular formatter does)::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
   ...     prog='PROG',
   ...     formatter_class=argparse.MetavarTypeHelpFormatter)
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', type=int)
   >>> parser.add_argument('bar', type=float)
   >>> parser.print_help()
   usage: PROG [-h] [--foo int] float

   positional arguments:
     float

   options:
     -h, --help  show this help message and exit
     --foo int


prefix_chars
^^^^^^^^^^^^

Most command-line options will use ``-`` as the prefix, e.g. ``-f/--foo``.
Parsers that need to support different or additional prefix
characters, e.g. for options
like ``+f`` or ``/foo``, may specify them using the ``prefix_chars=`` argument
to the :class:`ArgumentParser` constructor::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG', prefix_chars='-+')
   >>> parser.add_argument('+f')
   >>> parser.add_argument('++bar')
   >>> parser.parse_args('+f X ++bar Y'.split())
   Namespace(bar='Y', f='X')

The ``prefix_chars=`` argument defaults to ``'-'``. Supplying a set of
characters that does not include ``-`` will cause ``-f/--foo`` options to be
disallowed.


fromfile_prefix_chars
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Sometimes, when dealing with a particularly long argument list, it
may make sense to keep the list of arguments in a file rather than typing it out
at the command line.  If the ``fromfile_prefix_chars=`` argument is given to the
:class:`ArgumentParser` constructor, then arguments that start with any of the
specified characters will be treated as files, and will be replaced by the
arguments they contain.  For example::

   >>> with open('args.txt', 'w', encoding=sys.getfilesystemencoding()) as fp:
   ...     fp.write('-f\nbar')
   ...
   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(fromfile_prefix_chars='@')
   >>> parser.add_argument('-f')
   >>> parser.parse_args(['-f', 'foo', '@args.txt'])
   Namespace(f='bar')

Arguments read from a file must be one per line by default (but see also
:meth:`~ArgumentParser.convert_arg_line_to_args`) and are treated as if they
were in the same place as the original file referencing argument on the command
line.  So in the example above, the expression ``['-f', 'foo', '@args.txt']``
is considered equivalent to the expression ``['-f', 'foo', '-f', 'bar']``.

.. note::

   Empty lines are treated as empty strings (``''``), which are allowed as values but
   not as arguments. Empty lines that are read as arguments will result in an
   "unrecognized arguments" error.

:class:`ArgumentParser` uses :term:`filesystem encoding and error handler`
to read the file containing arguments.

The ``fromfile_prefix_chars=`` argument defaults to ``None``, meaning that
arguments will never be treated as file references.

.. versionchanged:: 3.12
   :class:`ArgumentParser` changed encoding and errors to read arguments files
   from default (e.g. :func:`locale.getpreferredencoding(False) <locale.getpreferredencoding>`
   and ``"strict"``) to the :term:`filesystem encoding and error handler`.
   Arguments file should be encoded in UTF-8 instead of ANSI Codepage on Windows.


argument_default
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Generally, argument defaults are specified either by passing a default to
:meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument` or by calling the
:meth:`~ArgumentParser.set_defaults` methods with a specific set of name-value
pairs.  Sometimes however, it may be useful to specify a single parser-wide
default for arguments.  This can be accomplished by passing the
``argument_default=`` keyword argument to :class:`ArgumentParser`.  For example,
to globally suppress attribute creation on :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args`
calls, we supply ``argument_default=SUPPRESS``::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(argument_default=argparse.SUPPRESS)
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foo')
   >>> parser.add_argument('bar', nargs='?')
   >>> parser.parse_args(['--foo', '1', 'BAR'])
   Namespace(bar='BAR', foo='1')
   >>> parser.parse_args([])
   Namespace()

.. _allow_abbrev:

allow_abbrev
^^^^^^^^^^^^

Normally, when you pass an argument list to the
:meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` method of an :class:`ArgumentParser`,
it :ref:`recognizes abbreviations <prefix-matching>` of long options.

This feature can be disabled by setting ``allow_abbrev`` to ``False``::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG', allow_abbrev=False)
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foobar', action='store_true')
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foonley', action='store_false')
   >>> parser.parse_args(['--foon'])
   usage: PROG [-h] [--foobar] [--foonley]
   PROG: error: unrecognized arguments: --foon

.. versionadded:: 3.5


conflict_handler
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

:class:`ArgumentParser` objects do not allow two actions with the same option
string.  By default, :class:`ArgumentParser` objects raise an exception if an
attempt is made to create an argument with an option string that is already in
use::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG')
   >>> parser.add_argument('-f', '--foo', help='old foo help')
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', help='new foo help')
   Traceback (most recent call last):
    ..
   ArgumentError: argument --foo: conflicting option string(s): --foo

Sometimes (e.g. when using parents_) it may be useful to simply override any
older arguments with the same option string.  To get this behavior, the value
``'resolve'`` can be supplied to the ``conflict_handler=`` argument of
:class:`ArgumentParser`::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG', conflict_handler='resolve')
   >>> parser.add_argument('-f', '--foo', help='old foo help')
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', help='new foo help')
   >>> parser.print_help()
   usage: PROG [-h] [-f FOO] [--foo FOO]

   options:
    -h, --help  show this help message and exit
    -f FOO      old foo help
    --foo FOO   new foo help

Note that :class:`ArgumentParser` objects only remove an action if all of its
option strings are overridden.  So, in the example above, the old ``-f/--foo``
action is retained as the ``-f`` action, because only the ``--foo`` option
string was overridden.


add_help
^^^^^^^^

By default, :class:`ArgumentParser` objects add an option which simply displays
the parser's help message. If ``-h`` or ``--help`` is supplied at the command
line, the :class:`!ArgumentParser` help will be printed.

Occasionally, it may be useful to disable the addition of this help option.
This can be achieved by passing ``False`` as the ``add_help=`` argument to
:class:`ArgumentParser`::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG', add_help=False)
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', help='foo help')
   >>> parser.print_help()
   usage: PROG [--foo FOO]

   options:
    --foo FOO  foo help

The help option is typically ``-h/--help``. The exception to this is
if the ``prefix_chars=`` is specified and does not include ``-``, in
which case ``-h`` and ``--help`` are not valid options.  In
this case, the first character in ``prefix_chars`` is used to prefix
the help options::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG', prefix_chars='+/')
   >>> parser.print_help()
   usage: PROG [+h]

   options:
     +h, ++help  show this help message and exit


exit_on_error
^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Normally, when you pass an invalid argument list to the :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args`
method of an :class:`ArgumentParser`, it will print a *message* to :data:`sys.stderr` and exit with a status
code of 2.

If the user would like to catch errors manually, the feature can be enabled by setting
``exit_on_error`` to ``False``::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(exit_on_error=False)
   >>> parser.add_argument('--integers', type=int)
   _StoreAction(option_strings=['--integers'], dest='integers', nargs=None, const=None, default=None, type=<class 'int'>, choices=None, help=None, metavar=None)
   >>> try:
   ...     parser.parse_args('--integers a'.split())
   ... except argparse.ArgumentError:
   ...     print('Catching an argumentError')
   ...
   Catching an argumentError

.. versionadded:: 3.9

suggest_on_error
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

By default, when a user passes an invalid argument choice or subparser name,
:class:`ArgumentParser` will exit with error info and provide suggestions for
mistyped arguments. The error message will list the permissible argument
choices (if specified) or subparser names, along with a "maybe you meant"
suggestion if a close match is found. Note that this only applies for arguments
when the choices specified are strings::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(suggest_on_error=True)
   >>> parser.add_argument('--action', choices=['debug', 'dryrun'])
   >>> parser.parse_args(['--action', 'debugg'])
   usage: tester.py [-h] [--action {debug,dryrun}]
   tester.py: error: argument --action: invalid choice: 'debugg', maybe you meant 'debug'? (choose from debug, dryrun)

You can disable suggestions by setting ``suggest_on_error`` to ``False``.

.. versionadded:: 3.14
.. versionchanged:: 3.15
   Changed default value of ``suggest_on_error`` from ``False`` to ``True``.

color
^^^^^

By default, the help message is printed in color using `ANSI escape sequences
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code>`__.
If you want plain text help messages, you can disable this :ref:`in your local
environment <using-on-controlling-color>`, or in the argument parser itself
by setting ``color`` to ``False``::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Process some integers.',
   ...                                  color=False)
   >>> parser.add_argument('--action', choices=['sum', 'max'])
   >>> parser.add_argument('integers', metavar='N', type=int, nargs='+',
   ...                     help='an integer for the accumulator')
   >>> parser.parse_args(['--help'])

Note that when ``color=True``, colored output depends on both environment
variables and terminal capabilities.  However, if ``color=False``, colored
output is always disabled, even if environment variables like ``FORCE_COLOR``
are set.

.. versionadded:: 3.14

To highlight inline code in your description, epilog, or argument ``help``
text, you can use single or double backticks::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
   ...     formatter_class=argparse.RawDescriptionHelpFormatter,
   ...     description='Run ``python -m myapp`` to start.',
   ...     epilog='''Examples:
   ...   `python -m myapp --verbose`
   ...   ``python -m myapp --config settings.json``
   ... ''')
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', help='set the `foo` value')

When colors are enabled, the text inside backticks will be displayed in a
distinct color to help examples stand out. When colors are disabled, backticks
are preserved as-is, which is readable in plain text.

.. versionadded:: 3.15


The add_argument() method
-------------------------

.. method:: ArgumentParser.add_argument(name or flags..., *, [action], [nargs], \
                           [const], [default], [type], [choices], [required], \
                           [help], [metavar], [dest], [deprecated])

   Define how a single command-line argument should be parsed.  Each parameter
   has its own more detailed description below, but in short they are:

   * `name or flags`_ - Either a name or a list of option strings, e.g. ``'foo'``
     or ``'-f', '--foo'``.

   * action_ - The basic type of action to be taken when this argument is
     encountered at the command line.

   * nargs_ - The number of command-line arguments that should be consumed.

   * const_ - A constant value required by some action_ and nargs_ selections.

   * default_ - The value produced if the argument is absent from the
     command line and if it is absent from the namespace object.

   * type_ - The type to which the command-line argument should be converted.

   * choices_ - A sequence of the allowable values for the argument.

   * required_ - Whether or not the command-line option may be omitted
     (optionals only).

   * help_ - A brief description of what the argument does.

   * metavar_ - A name for the argument in usage messages.

   * dest_ - The name of the attribute to be added to the object returned by
     :meth:`parse_args`.

   * deprecated_ - Whether or not use of the argument is deprecated.

   The method returns an :class:`Action` object representing the argument.

The following sections describe how each of these are used.


.. _`name or flags`:

name or flags
^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument` method must know whether an optional
argument, like ``-f`` or ``--foo``, or a positional argument, like a list of
filenames, is expected.  The first arguments passed to
:meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument` must therefore be either a series of
flags, or a simple argument name.

For example, an optional argument could be created like::

   >>> parser.add_argument('-f', '--foo')

while a positional argument could be created like::

   >>> parser.add_argument('bar')

When :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` is called, optional arguments will be
identified by the ``-`` prefix, and the remaining arguments will be assumed to
be positional::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG')
   >>> parser.add_argument('-f', '--foo')
   >>> parser.add_argument('bar')
   >>> parser.parse_args(['BAR'])
   Namespace(bar='BAR', foo=None)
   >>> parser.parse_args(['BAR', '--foo', 'FOO'])
   Namespace(bar='BAR', foo='FOO')
   >>> parser.parse_args(['--foo', 'FOO'])
   usage: PROG [-h] [-f FOO] bar
   PROG: error: the following arguments are required: bar

By default, :mod:`!argparse` automatically handles the internal naming and
display names of arguments, simplifying the process without requiring
additional configuration.
As such, you do not need to specify the dest_ and metavar_ parameters.
For optional arguments, the dest_ parameter defaults to the argument name, with
underscores ``_`` replacing hyphens ``-``. The metavar_ parameter defaults to
the upper-cased name. For example::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG')
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foo-bar')
   >>> parser.parse_args(['--foo-bar', 'FOO-BAR'])
   Namespace(foo_bar='FOO-BAR')
   >>> parser.print_help()
   usage:  [-h] [--foo-bar FOO-BAR]

   optional arguments:
    -h, --help  show this help message and exit
    --foo-bar FOO-BAR


.. _action:

action
^^^^^^

:class:`ArgumentParser` objects associate command-line arguments with actions.  These
actions can do just about anything with the command-line arguments associated with
them, though most actions simply add an attribute to the object returned by
:meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args`.  The ``action`` keyword argument specifies
how the command-line arguments should be handled. The supplied actions are:

* ``'store'`` - This just stores the argument's value.  This is the default
  action.

* ``'store_const'`` - This stores the value specified by the const_ keyword
  argument; note that the const_ keyword argument defaults to ``None``.  The
  ``'store_const'`` action is most commonly used with optional arguments that
  specify some sort of flag.  For example::

    >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', action='store_const', const=42)
    >>> parser.parse_args(['--foo'])
    Namespace(foo=42)

* ``'store_true'`` and ``'store_false'`` - These are special cases of
  ``'store_const'`` that respectively store the values ``True`` and ``False``
  with default values of ``False`` and
  ``True``::

    >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', action='store_true')
    >>> parser.add_argument('--bar', action='store_false')
    >>> parser.add_argument('--baz', action='store_false')
    >>> parser.parse_args('--foo --bar'.split())
    Namespace(foo=True, bar=False, baz=True)

* ``'append'`` - This appends each argument value to a list.
  It is useful for allowing an option to be specified multiple times.
  If the default value is a non-empty list, the parsed value will start
  with the default list's elements and any values from the command line
  will be appended after those default values. Example usage::

    >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', action='append', default=['0'])
    >>> parser.parse_args('--foo 1 --foo 2'.split())
    Namespace(foo=['0', '1', '2'])

* ``'append_const'`` - This appends the value specified by
  the const_ keyword argument to a list; note that the const_ keyword
  argument defaults to ``None``. The ``'append_const'`` action is typically
  useful when multiple arguments need to store constants to the same list. For
  example::

    >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    >>> parser.add_argument('--str', dest='types', action='append_const', const=str)
    >>> parser.add_argument('--int', dest='types', action='append_const', const=int)
    >>> parser.parse_args('--str --int'.split())
    Namespace(types=[<class 'str'>, <class 'int'>])

* ``'extend'`` - This appends each item from a multi-value
  argument to a list.
  The ``'extend'`` action is typically used with the nargs_ keyword argument
  value ``'+'`` or ``'*'``.
  Note that when nargs_ is ``None`` (the default) or ``'?'``, each
  character of the argument string will be appended to the list.
  Example usage::

    >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    >>> parser.add_argument("--foo", action="extend", nargs="+", type=str)
    >>> parser.parse_args(["--foo", "f1", "--foo", "f2", "f3", "f4"])
    Namespace(foo=['f1', 'f2', 'f3', 'f4'])

  .. versionadded:: 3.8

* ``'count'`` - This counts the number of times an argument occurs. For
  example, this is useful for increasing verbosity levels::

    >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    >>> parser.add_argument('--verbose', '-v', action='count', default=0)
    >>> parser.parse_args(['-vvv'])
    Namespace(verbose=3)

  Note, the *default* will be ``None`` unless explicitly set to *0*.

* ``'help'`` - This prints a complete help message for all the options in the
  current parser and then exits. By default a help action is automatically
  added to the parser. See :class:`ArgumentParser` for details of how the
  output is created.

* ``'version'`` - This expects a ``version=`` keyword argument in the
  :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument` call, and prints version information
  and exits when invoked::

    >>> import argparse
    >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG')
    >>> parser.add_argument('--version', action='version', version='%(prog)s 2.0')
    >>> parser.parse_args(['--version'])
    PROG 2.0

You may also specify an arbitrary action by passing an :class:`Action` subclass
(e.g. :class:`BooleanOptionalAction`) or other object that implements the same
interface. Only actions that consume command-line arguments (e.g. ``'store'``,
``'append'``, ``'extend'``, or custom actions with non-zero ``nargs``) can be used
with positional arguments.

The recommended way to create a custom action is to extend :class:`Action`,
overriding the :meth:`!__call__` method and optionally the :meth:`!__init__` and
:meth:`!format_usage` methods. You can also register custom actions using the
:meth:`~ArgumentParser.register` method and reference them by their registered name.

An example of a custom action::

   >>> class FooAction(argparse.Action):
   ...     def __init__(self, option_strings, dest, nargs=None, **kwargs):
   ...         if nargs is not None:
   ...             raise ValueError("nargs not allowed")
   ...         super().__init__(option_strings, dest, **kwargs)
   ...     def __call__(self, parser, namespace, values, option_string=None):
   ...         print('%r %r %r' % (namespace, values, option_string))
   ...         setattr(namespace, self.dest, values)
   ...
   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', action=FooAction)
   >>> parser.add_argument('bar', action=FooAction)
   >>> args = parser.parse_args('1 --foo 2'.split())
   Namespace(bar=None, foo=None) '1' None
   Namespace(bar='1', foo=None) '2' '--foo'
   >>> args
   Namespace(bar='1', foo='2')

For more details, see :class:`Action`.


.. _nargs:

nargs
^^^^^

:class:`ArgumentParser` objects usually associate a single command-line argument with a
single action to be taken.  The ``nargs`` keyword argument associates a
different number of command-line arguments with a single action.
See also :ref:`specifying-ambiguous-arguments`. The supported values are:

* ``N`` (an integer).  ``N`` arguments from the command line will be gathered
  together into a list.  For example::

     >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
     >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', nargs=2)
     >>> parser.add_argument('bar', nargs=1)
     >>> parser.parse_args('c --foo a b'.split())
     Namespace(bar=['c'], foo=['a', 'b'])

  Note that ``nargs=1`` produces a list of one item.  This is different from
  the default, in which the item is produced by itself.

.. index:: single: ? (question mark); in argparse module

* ``'?'``. One argument will be consumed from the command line if possible, and
  produced as a single item.  If no command-line argument is present, the value from
  default_ will be produced.  Note that for optional arguments, there is an
  additional case - the option string is present but not followed by a
  command-line argument.  In this case the value from const_ will be produced.  Some
  examples to illustrate this::

     >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
     >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', nargs='?', const='c', default='d')
     >>> parser.add_argument('bar', nargs='?', default='d')
     >>> parser.parse_args(['XX', '--foo', 'YY'])
     Namespace(bar='XX', foo='YY')
     >>> parser.parse_args(['XX', '--foo'])
     Namespace(bar='XX', foo='c')
     >>> parser.parse_args([])
     Namespace(bar='d', foo='d')

  One of the more common uses of ``nargs='?'`` is to allow optional input and
  output files::

     >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
     >>> parser.add_argument('infile', nargs='?')
     >>> parser.add_argument('outfile', nargs='?')
     >>> parser.parse_args(['input.txt', 'output.txt'])
     Namespace(infile='input.txt', outfile='output.txt')
     >>> parser.parse_args(['input.txt'])
     Namespace(infile='input.txt', outfile=None)
     >>> parser.parse_args([])
     Namespace(infile=None, outfile=None)

.. index:: single: * (asterisk); in argparse module

* ``'*'``.  All command-line arguments present are gathered into a list.  Note that
  it generally doesn't make much sense to have more than one positional argument
  with ``nargs='*'``, but multiple optional arguments with ``nargs='*'`` is
  possible.  For example::

     >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
     >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', nargs='*')
     >>> parser.add_argument('--bar', nargs='*')
     >>> parser.add_argument('baz', nargs='*')
     >>> parser.parse_args('a b --foo x y --bar 1 2'.split())
     Namespace(bar=['1', '2'], baz=['a', 'b'], foo=['x', 'y'])

.. index:: single: + (plus); in argparse module

* ``'+'``. Just like ``'*'``, all command-line arguments present are gathered into a
  list.  Additionally, an error message will be generated if there wasn't at
  least one command-line argument present.  For example::

     >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG')
     >>> parser.add_argument('foo', nargs='+')
     >>> parser.parse_args(['a', 'b'])
     Namespace(foo=['a', 'b'])
     >>> parser.parse_args([])
     usage: PROG [-h] foo [foo ...]
     PROG: error: the following arguments are required: foo

If the ``nargs`` keyword argument is not provided, the number of arguments consumed
is determined by the action_.  Generally this means a single command-line argument
will be consumed and a single item (not a list) will be produced.
Actions that do not consume command-line arguments (e.g.
``'store_const'``) set ``nargs=0``.


.. _const:

const
^^^^^

The ``const`` argument of :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument` is used to hold
constant values that are not read from the command line but are required for
the various :class:`ArgumentParser` actions.  The two most common uses of it are:

* When :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument` is called with
  ``action='store_const'`` or ``action='append_const'``.  These actions add the
  ``const`` value to one of the attributes of the object returned by
  :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args`. See the action_ description for examples.
  If ``const`` is not provided to :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument`, it will
  receive a default value of ``None``.


* When :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument` is called with option strings
  (like ``-f`` or ``--foo``) and ``nargs='?'``.  This creates an optional
  argument that can be followed by zero or one command-line arguments.
  When parsing the command line, if the option string is encountered with no
  command-line argument following it, the value from ``const`` will be used.
  See the nargs_ description for examples.

.. versionchanged:: 3.11
   ``const=None`` by default, including when ``action='append_const'`` or
   ``action='store_const'``.

.. _default:

default
^^^^^^^

All optional arguments and some positional arguments may be omitted at the
command line.  The ``default`` keyword argument of
:meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument`, whose value defaults to ``None``,
specifies what value should be used if the command-line argument is not present.
For optional arguments, the ``default`` value is used when the option string
was not present at the command line::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', default=42)
   >>> parser.parse_args(['--foo', '2'])
   Namespace(foo='2')
   >>> parser.parse_args([])
   Namespace(foo=42)

If the target namespace already has an attribute set, the action *default*
will not overwrite it::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', default=42)
   >>> parser.parse_args([], namespace=argparse.Namespace(foo=101))
   Namespace(foo=101)

If the ``default`` value is a string, the parser parses the value as if it
were a command-line argument.  In particular, the parser applies any type_
conversion argument, if provided, before setting the attribute on the
:class:`Namespace` return value.  Otherwise, the parser uses the value as is::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
   >>> parser.add_argument('--length', default='10', type=int)
   >>> parser.add_argument('--width', default=10.5, type=int)
   >>> parser.parse_args()
   Namespace(length=10, width=10.5)

For positional arguments with nargs_ equal to ``?`` or ``*``, the ``default`` value
is used when no command-line argument was present::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
   >>> parser.add_argument('foo', nargs='?', default=42)
   >>> parser.parse_args(['a'])
   Namespace(foo='a')
   >>> parser.parse_args([])
   Namespace(foo=42)

For required_ arguments, the ``default`` value is ignored. For example, this
applies to positional arguments with nargs_ values other than ``?`` or ``*``,
or optional arguments marked as ``required=True``.

Providing ``default=argparse.SUPPRESS`` causes no attribute to be added if the
command-line argument was not present::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', default=argparse.SUPPRESS)
   >>> parser.parse_args([])
   Namespace()
   >>> parser.parse_args(['--foo', '1'])
   Namespace(foo='1')


.. _argparse-type:

type
^^^^

By default, the parser reads command-line arguments in as simple
strings. However, quite often the command-line string should instead be
interpreted as another type, such as a :class:`float` or :class:`int`.  The
``type`` keyword for :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument` allows any
necessary type-checking and type conversions to be performed.

If the type_ keyword is used with the default_ keyword, the type converter
is only applied if the default is a string.

The argument to ``type`` can be a callable that accepts a single string or
the name of a registered type (see :meth:`~ArgumentParser.register`)
If the function raises :exc:`ArgumentTypeError`, :exc:`TypeError`, or
:exc:`ValueError`, the exception is caught and a nicely formatted error
message is displayed. Other exception types are not handled.

Common built-in types and functions can be used as type converters:

.. testcode::

   import argparse
   import pathlib

   parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
   parser.add_argument('count', type=int)
   parser.add_argument('distance', type=float)
   parser.add_argument('street', type=ascii)
   parser.add_argument('code_point', type=ord)
   parser.add_argument('datapath', type=pathlib.Path)

User defined functions can be used as well:

.. doctest::

   >>> def hyphenated(string):
   ...     return '-'.join([word[:4] for word in string.casefold().split()])
   ...
   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
   >>> _ = parser.add_argument('short_title', type=hyphenated)
   >>> parser.parse_args(['"The Tale of Two Cities"'])
   Namespace(short_title='"the-tale-of-two-citi')

The :func:`bool` function is not recommended as a type converter.  All it does
is convert empty strings to ``False`` and non-empty strings to ``True``.
This is usually not what is desired::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
   >>> _ = parser.add_argument('--verbose', type=bool)
   >>> parser.parse_args(['--verbose', 'False'])
   Namespace(verbose=True)

See :class:`BooleanOptionalAction` or ``action='store_true'`` for common
alternatives.

In general, the ``type`` keyword is a convenience that should only be used for
simple conversions that can only raise one of the three supported exceptions.
Anything with more interesting error-handling or resource management should be
done downstream after the arguments are parsed.

For example, JSON or YAML conversions have complex error cases that require
better reporting than can be given by the ``type`` keyword.  A
:exc:`~json.JSONDecodeError` would not be well formatted and a
:exc:`FileNotFoundError` exception would not be handled at all.

Even :class:`~argparse.FileType` has its limitations for use with the ``type``
keyword.  If one argument uses :class:`~argparse.FileType` and then a
subsequent argument fails, an error is reported but the file is not
automatically closed.  In this case, it would be better to wait until after
the parser has run and then use the :keyword:`with`-statement to manage the
files.

For type checkers that simply check against a fixed set of values, consider
using the choices_ keyword instead.


.. _choices:

choices
^^^^^^^

Some command-line arguments should be selected from a restricted set of values.
These can be handled by passing a sequence object as the *choices* keyword
argument to :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument`.  When the command line is
parsed, argument values will be checked, and an error message will be displayed
if the argument was not one of the acceptable values::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='game.py')
   >>> parser.add_argument('move', choices=['rock', 'paper', 'scissors'])
   >>> parser.parse_args(['rock'])
   Namespace(move='rock')
   >>> parser.parse_args(['fire'])
   usage: game.py [-h] {rock,paper,scissors}
   game.py: error: argument move: invalid choice: 'fire' (choose from 'rock',
   'paper', 'scissors')

Any sequence can be passed as the *choices* value, so :class:`list` objects,
:class:`tuple` objects, and custom sequences are all supported.

Use of :class:`enum.Enum` is not recommended because it is difficult to
control its appearance in usage, help, and error messages.

Note that *choices* are checked after any type_
conversions have been performed, so objects in *choices*
should match the type_ specified. This can make *choices*
appear unfamiliar in usage, help, or error messages.

To keep *choices* user-friendly, consider a custom type wrapper that
converts and formats values, or omit type_ and handle conversion in
your application code.

Formatted choices override the default *metavar* which is normally derived
from *dest*.  This is usually what you want because the user never sees the
*dest* parameter.  If this display isn't desirable (perhaps because there are
many choices), just specify an explicit metavar_.


.. _required:

required
^^^^^^^^

In general, the :mod:`!argparse` module assumes that flags like ``-f`` and ``--bar``
indicate *optional* arguments, which can always be omitted at the command line.
To make an option *required*, ``True`` can be specified for the ``required=``
keyword argument to :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument`::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', required=True)
   >>> parser.parse_args(['--foo', 'BAR'])
   Namespace(foo='BAR')
   >>> parser.parse_args([])
   usage: [-h] --foo FOO
   : error: the following arguments are required: --foo

As the example shows, if an option is marked as ``required``,
:meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` will report an error if that option is not
present at the command line.

.. note::

    Required options are generally considered bad form because users expect
    *options* to be *optional*, and thus they should be avoided when possible.


.. _help:

help
^^^^

The ``help`` value is a string containing a brief description of the argument.
When a user requests help (usually by using ``-h`` or ``--help`` at the
command line), these ``help`` descriptions will be displayed with each
argument.

The ``help`` strings can include various format specifiers to avoid repetition
of things like the program name or the argument default_.  The available
specifiers include the program name, ``%(prog)s`` and most keyword arguments to
:meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument`, e.g. ``%(default)s``, ``%(type)s``, etc.::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='frobble')
   >>> parser.add_argument('bar', nargs='?', type=int, default=42,
   ...                     help='the bar to %(prog)s (default: %(default)s)')
   >>> parser.print_help()
   usage: frobble [-h] [bar]

   positional arguments:
    bar     the bar to frobble (default: 42)

   options:
    -h, --help  show this help message and exit

As the help string supports %-formatting, if you want a literal ``%`` to appear
in the help string, you must escape it as ``%%``.

:mod:`!argparse` supports silencing the help entry for certain options, by
setting the ``help`` value to ``argparse.SUPPRESS``::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='frobble')
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', help=argparse.SUPPRESS)
   >>> parser.print_help()
   usage: frobble [-h]

   options:
     -h, --help  show this help message and exit


.. _metavar:

metavar
^^^^^^^

When :class:`ArgumentParser` generates help messages, it needs some way to refer
to each expected argument.  By default, :class:`!ArgumentParser` objects use the dest_
value as the "name" of each object.  By default, for positional argument
actions, the dest_ value is used directly, and for optional argument actions,
the dest_ value is uppercased.  So, a single positional argument with
``dest='bar'`` will be referred to as ``bar``. A single
optional argument ``--foo`` that should be followed by a single command-line argument
will be referred to as ``FOO``.  An example::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foo')
   >>> parser.add_argument('bar')
   >>> parser.parse_args('X --foo Y'.split())
   Namespace(bar='X', foo='Y')
   >>> parser.print_help()
   usage:  [-h] [--foo FOO] bar

   positional arguments:
    bar

   options:
    -h, --help  show this help message and exit
    --foo FOO

An alternative name can be specified with ``metavar``::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', metavar='YYY')
   >>> parser.add_argument('bar', metavar='XXX')
   >>> parser.parse_args('X --foo Y'.split())
   Namespace(bar='X', foo='Y')
   >>> parser.print_help()
   usage:  [-h] [--foo YYY] XXX

   positional arguments:
    XXX

   options:
    -h, --help  show this help message and exit
    --foo YYY

Note that ``metavar`` only changes the *displayed* name - the name of the
attribute on the :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` object is still determined
by the dest_ value.

Different values of ``nargs`` may cause the metavar to be used multiple times.
Providing a tuple to ``metavar`` specifies a different display for each of the
arguments::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG')
   >>> parser.add_argument('-x', nargs=2)
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', nargs=2, metavar=('bar', 'baz'))
   >>> parser.print_help()
   usage: PROG [-h] [-x X X] [--foo bar baz]

   options:
    -h, --help     show this help message and exit
    -x X X
    --foo bar baz


.. _dest:

dest
^^^^

Most :class:`ArgumentParser` actions add some value as an attribute of the
object returned by :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args`.  The name of this
attribute is determined by the ``dest`` keyword argument of
:meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument`.  For positional argument actions,
``dest`` is normally supplied as the first argument to
:meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument`::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
   >>> parser.add_argument('bar')
   >>> parser.parse_args(['XXX'])
   Namespace(bar='XXX')

For optional argument actions, the value of ``dest`` is normally inferred from
the option strings.  :class:`ArgumentParser` generates the value of ``dest`` by
taking the first double-dash long option string and stripping away the initial
``-`` characters.
If no double-dash long option strings were supplied, ``dest`` will be derived
from the first single-dash long option string by stripping the initial ``-``
character.
If no long option strings were supplied, ``dest`` will be derived from
the first short option string by stripping the initial ``-`` character.  Any
internal ``-`` characters will be converted to ``_`` characters to make sure
the string is a valid attribute name.  The examples below illustrate this
behavior::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
   >>> parser.add_argument('-f', '--foo-bar', '--foo')
   >>> parser.add_argument('-q', '-quz')
   >>> parser.add_argument('-x', '-y')
   >>> parser.parse_args('-f 1 -q 2 -x 3'.split())
   Namespace(foo_bar='1', quz='2', x='3')
   >>> parser.parse_args('--foo 1 -quz 2 -y 3'.split())
   Namespace(foo_bar='1', quz='2', x='2')

``dest`` allows a custom attribute name to be provided::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', dest='bar')
   >>> parser.parse_args('--foo XXX'.split())
   Namespace(bar='XXX')

.. versionchanged:: 3.15
   Single-dash long option now takes precedence over short options.


.. _deprecated:

deprecated
^^^^^^^^^^

During a project's lifetime, some arguments may need to be removed from the
command line. Before removing them, you should inform
your users that the arguments are deprecated and will be removed.
The ``deprecated`` keyword argument of
:meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument`, which defaults to ``False``,
specifies if the argument is deprecated and will be removed
in the future.
For arguments, if ``deprecated`` is ``True``, then a warning will be
printed to :data:`sys.stderr` when the argument is used::

   >>> import argparse
   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='snake.py')
   >>> parser.add_argument('--legs', default=0, type=int, deprecated=True)
   >>> parser.parse_args([])
   Namespace(legs=0)
   >>> parser.parse_args(['--legs', '4'])  # doctest: +SKIP
   snake.py: warning: option '--legs' is deprecated
   Namespace(legs=4)

.. versionadded:: 3.13


Action classes
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

:class:`!Action` classes implement the Action API, a callable which returns a callable
which processes arguments from the command-line. Any object which follows
this API may be passed as the ``action`` parameter to
:meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument`.

.. class:: Action(option_strings, dest, nargs=None, const=None, default=None, \
                  type=None, choices=None, required=False, help=None, \
                  metavar=None)

   :class:`!Action` objects are used by an :class:`ArgumentParser` to represent the information
   needed to parse a single argument from one or more strings from the
   command line. The :class:`!Action` class must accept the two positional arguments
   plus any keyword arguments passed to :meth:`ArgumentParser.add_argument`
   except for the ``action`` itself.

   Instances of :class:`!Action` (or return value of any callable to the
   ``action`` parameter) should have attributes :attr:`!dest`,
   :attr:`!option_strings`, :attr:`!default`, :attr:`!type`, :attr:`!required`,
   :attr:`!help`, etc. defined. The easiest way to ensure these attributes
   are defined is to call :meth:`!Action.__init__`.

   .. method:: __call__(parser, namespace, values, option_string=None)

      :class:`!Action` instances should be callable, so subclasses must override the
      :meth:`!__call__` method, which should accept four parameters:

      * *parser* - The :class:`ArgumentParser` object which contains this action.

      * *namespace* - The :class:`Namespace` object that will be returned by
        :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args`.  Most actions add an attribute to this
        object using :func:`setattr`.

      * *values* - The associated command-line arguments, with any type conversions
        applied.  Type conversions are specified with the type_ keyword argument to
        :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument`.

      * *option_string* - The option string that was used to invoke this action.
        The ``option_string`` argument is optional, and will be absent if the action
        is associated with a positional argument.

      The :meth:`!__call__` method may perform arbitrary actions, but will typically set
      attributes on the ``namespace`` based on ``dest`` and ``values``.

   .. method:: format_usage()

      :class:`!Action` subclasses can define a :meth:`!format_usage` method that takes no argument
      and return a string which will be used when printing the usage of the program.
      If such method is not provided, a sensible default will be used.

.. class:: BooleanOptionalAction

   A subclass of :class:`Action` for handling boolean flags with positive
   and negative options. Adding a single argument such as ``--foo`` automatically
   creates both ``--foo`` and ``--no-foo`` options, storing ``True`` and ``False``
   respectively::

       >>> import argparse
       >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
       >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', action=argparse.BooleanOptionalAction)
       >>> parser.parse_args(['--no-foo'])
       Namespace(foo=False)

   Single-dash long options are also supported.
   For example, negative option ``-nofoo`` is automatically added for
   positive option ``-foo``.
   But no additional options are added for short options such as ``-f``.

   .. versionadded:: 3.9

   .. versionchanged:: 3.15
      Added support for single-dash options.

      Added support for alternate prefix_chars_.


The parse_args() method
-----------------------

.. method:: ArgumentParser.parse_args(args=None, namespace=None)

   Convert argument strings to objects and assign them as attributes of the
   namespace.  Return the populated namespace.

   Previous calls to :meth:`add_argument` determine exactly what objects are
   created and how they are assigned. See the documentation for
   :meth:`!add_argument` for details.

   * args_ - List of strings to parse.  The default is taken from
     :data:`sys.argv`.

   * namespace_ - An object to take the attributes.  The default is a new empty
     :class:`Namespace` object.


Option value syntax
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` method supports several ways of
specifying the value of an option (if it takes one).  In the simplest case, the
option and its value are passed as two separate arguments::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG')
   >>> parser.add_argument('-x')
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foo')
   >>> parser.parse_args(['-x', 'X'])
   Namespace(foo=None, x='X')
   >>> parser.parse_args(['--foo', 'FOO'])
   Namespace(foo='FOO', x=None)

For long options (options with names longer than a single character), the option
and value can also be passed as a single command-line argument, using ``=`` to
separate them::

   >>> parser.parse_args(['--foo=FOO'])
   Namespace(foo='FOO', x=None)

For short options (options only one character long), the option and its value
can be concatenated::

   >>> parser.parse_args(['-xX'])
   Namespace(foo=None, x='X')

Several short options can be joined together, using only a single ``-`` prefix,
as long as only the last option (or none of them) requires a value::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG')
   >>> parser.add_argument('-x', action='store_true')
   >>> parser.add_argument('-y', action='store_true')
   >>> parser.add_argument('-z')
   >>> parser.parse_args(['-xyzZ'])
   Namespace(x=True, y=True, z='Z')


Invalid arguments
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

While parsing the command line, :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` checks for a
variety of errors, including ambiguous options, invalid types, invalid options,
wrong number of positional arguments, etc.  When it encounters such an error,
it exits and prints the error along with a usage message::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG')
   >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', type=int)
   >>> parser.add_argument('bar', nargs='?')

   >>> # invalid type
   >>> parser.parse_args(['--foo', 'spam'])
   usage: PROG [-h] [--foo FOO] [bar]
   PROG: error: argument --foo: invalid int value: 'spam'

   >>> # invalid option
   >>> parser.parse_args(['--bar'])
   usage: PROG [-h] [--foo FOO] [bar]
   PROG: error: no such option: --bar

   >>> # wrong number of arguments
   >>> parser.parse_args(['spam', 'badger'])
   usage: PROG [-h] [--foo FOO] [bar]
   PROG: error: extra arguments found: badger


Arguments containing ``-``
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` method attempts to give errors whenever
the user has clearly made a mistake, but some situations are inherently
ambiguous.  For example, the command-line argument ``-1`` could either be an
attempt to specify an option or an attempt to provide a positional argument.
The :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` method is cautious here: positional
arguments may only begin with ``-`` if they look like negative numbers and
there are no options in the parser that look like negative numbers::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG')
   >>> parser.add_argument('-x')
   >>> parser.add_argument('foo', nargs='?')

   >>> # no negative number options, so -1 is a positional argument
   >>> parser.parse_args(['-x', '-1'])
   Namespace(foo=None, x='-1')

   >>> # no negative number options, so -1 and -5 are positional arguments
   >>> parser.parse_args(['-x', '-1', '-5'])
   Namespace(foo='-5', x='-1')

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG')
   >>> parser.add_argument('-1', dest='one')
   >>> parser.add_argument('foo', nargs='?')

   >>> # negative number options present, so -1 is an option
   >>> parser.parse_args(['-1', 'X'])
   Namespace(foo=None, one='X')

   >>> # negative number options present, so -2 is an option
   >>> parser.parse_args(['-2'])
   usage: PROG [-h] [-1 ONE] [foo]
   PROG: error: no such option: -2

   >>> # negative number options present, so both -1s are options
   >>> parser.parse_args(['-1', '-1'])
   usage: PROG [-h] [-1 ONE] [foo]
   PROG: error: argument -1: expected one argument

If you have positional arguments that must begin with ``-`` and don't look
like negative numbers, you can insert the pseudo-argument ``'--'`` which tells
:meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` that everything after that is a positional
argument::

   >>> parser.parse_args(['--', '-f'])
   Namespace(foo='-f', one=None)

See also :ref:`the argparse howto on ambiguous arguments <specifying-ambiguous-arguments>`
for more details.

.. _prefix-matching:

Argument abbreviations (prefix matching)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` method :ref:`by default <allow_abbrev>`
allows long options to be abbreviated to a prefix, if the abbreviation is
unambiguous (the prefix matches a unique option)::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG')
   >>> parser.add_argument('-bacon')
   >>> parser.add_argument('-badger')
   >>> parser.parse_args('-bac MMM'.split())
   Namespace(bacon='MMM', badger=None)
   >>> parser.parse_args('-bad WOOD'.split())
   Namespace(bacon=None, badger='WOOD')
   >>> parser.parse_args('-ba BA'.split())
   usage: PROG [-h] [-bacon BACON] [-badger BADGER]
   PROG: error: ambiguous option: -ba could match -badger, -bacon

An error is produced for arguments that could produce more than one options.
This feature can be disabled by setting :ref:`allow_abbrev` to ``False``.

.. _args:

Beyond ``sys.argv``
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Sometimes it may be useful to have an :class:`ArgumentParser` parse arguments other than those
of :data:`sys.argv`.  This can be accomplished by passing a list of strings to
:meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args`.  This is useful for testing at the
interactive prompt::

   >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
   >>> parser.add_argument(
   ...     'integers', metavar='int', type=int, choices=range(10),
   ...     nargs='+', help='an integer in the range 0..9')
   >>> parser.add_argument(
   ...     '--sum', dest='accumulate', action='store_const', const=sum,
   ...     default=max, help='sum the integers (default: find the max)')
   >>> parser.parse_args(['1', '2', '3', '4'])
   Namespace(accumulate=<built-in function max>, integers=[1, 2, 3, 4])
   >>> parser.parse_args(['1', '2', '3', '4', '--sum'])
   Namespace(accumulate=<built-in function sum>, integers=[1, 2, 3, 4])

.. _namespace:

The Namespace object
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

.. class:: Namespace

   Simple class used by default by :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` to create
   an object holding attributes and return it.

   This class is deliberately simple, just an :class:`object` subclass with a
   readable string representation. If you prefer to have dict-like view of the
   attributes, you can use the standard Python idiom, :func:`vars`::

      >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
      >>> parser.add_argument('--foo')
      >>> args = parser.parse_args(['--foo', 'BAR'])
      >>> vars(args)
      {'foo': 'BAR'}

   It may also be useful to have an :class:`ArgumentParser` assign attributes to an
   already existing object, rather than a new :class:`Namespace` object.  This can
   be achieved by specifying the ``namespace=`` keyword argument::

      >>> class C:
      ...     pass
      ...
      >>> c = C()
      >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
      >>> parser.add_argument('--foo')
      >>> parser.parse_args(args=['--foo', 'BAR'], namespace=c)
      >>> c.foo
      'BAR'


Other utilities
---------------

Subcommands
^^^^^^^^^^^^

.. method:: ArgumentParser.add_subparsers(*, [title], [description], [prog], \
                                          [parser_class], [action], \
                                          [dest], [required], \
                                          [help], [metavar])

   Many programs split up their functionality into a number of subcommands,
   for example, the ``svn`` program can invoke subcommands like ``svn
   checkout``, ``svn update``, and ``svn commit``.  Splitting up functionality
   this way can be a particularly good idea when a program performs several
   different functions which require different kinds of command-line arguments.
   :class:`ArgumentParser` supports the creation of such subcommands with the
   :meth:`!add_subparsers` method.  The :meth:`!add_subparsers` method is normally
   called with no arguments and returns a special action object.  This object
   has a single method, :meth:`~_SubParsersAction.add_parser`, which takes a
   command name and any :class:`!ArgumentParser` constructor arguments, and
   returns an :class:`!ArgumentParser` object that can be modified as usual.

   Description of parameters:

   * *title* - title for the sub-parser group in help output; by default
     "subcommands" if description is provided, otherwise uses title for
     positional arguments

   * *description* - description for the sub-parser group in help output, by
     default ``None``

   * *prog* - usage information that will be displayed with subcommand help,
     by default the name of the program and any positional arguments before the
     subparser argument

   * *parser_class* - class which will be used to create sub-parser instances, by
     default the class of the current parser (e.g. :class:`ArgumentParser`)

   * action_ - the basic type of action to be taken when this argument is
     encountered at the command line

   * dest_ - name of the attribute under which subcommand name will be
     stored; by default ``None`` and no value is stored

   * required_ - Whether or not a subcommand must be provided, by default
     ``False`` (added in 3.7)

   * help_ - help for sub-parser group in help output, by default ``None``

   * metavar_ - string presenting available subcommands in help; by default it
     is ``None`` and presents subcommands in form {cmd1, cmd2, ..}

   Some example usage::

     >>> # create the top-level parser
     >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG')
     >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', action='store_true', help='foo help')
     >>> subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(help='subcommand help')
     >>>
     >>> # create the parser for the "a" command
     >>> parser_a = subparsers.add_parser('a', help='a help')
     >>> parser_a.add_argument('bar', type=int, help='bar help')
     >>>
     >>> # create the parser for the "b" command
     >>> parser_b = subparsers.add_parser('b', help='b help')
     >>> parser_b.add_argument('--baz', choices=('X', 'Y', 'Z'), help='baz help')
     >>>
     >>> # parse some argument lists
     >>> parser.parse_args(['a', '12'])
     Namespace(bar=12, foo=False)
     >>> parser.parse_args(['--foo', 'b', '--baz', 'Z'])
     Namespace(baz='Z', foo=True)

   Note that the object returned by :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` will only contain
   attributes for the main parser and the subparser that was selected by the
   command line (and not any other subparsers).  So in the example above, when
   the ``a`` command is specified, only the ``foo`` and ``bar`` attributes are
   present, and when the ``b`` command is specified, only the ``foo`` and
   ``baz`` attributes are present.

   Similarly, when a help message is requested from a subparser, only the help
   for that particular parser will be printed.  The help message will not
   include parent parser or sibling parser messages.  (A help message for each
   subparser command, however, can be given by supplying the ``help=`` argument
   to :meth:`~_SubParsersAction.add_parser` as above.)

   ::

     >>> parser.parse_args(['--help'])
     usage: PROG [-h] [--foo] {a,b} ...

     positional arguments:
       {a,b}   subcommand help
         a     a help
         b     b help

     options:
       -h, --help  show this help message and exit
       --foo   foo help

     >>> parser.parse_args(['a', '--help'])
     usage: PROG a [-h] bar

     positional arguments:
       bar     bar help

     options:
       -h, --help  show this help message and exit

     >>> parser.parse_args(['b', '--help'])
     usage: PROG b [-h] [--baz {X,Y,Z}]

     options:
       -h, --help     show this help message and exit
       --baz {X,Y,Z}  baz help

   The :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_subparsers` method also supports ``title`` and ``description``
   keyword arguments.  When either is present, the subparser's commands will
   appear in their own group in the help output.  For example::

     >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
     >>> subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(title='subcommands',
     ...                                    description='valid subcommands',
     ...                                    help='additional help')
     >>> subparsers.add_parser('foo')
     >>> subparsers.add_parser('bar')
     >>> parser.parse_args(['-h'])
     usage:  [-h] {foo,bar} ...

     options:
       -h, --help  show this help message and exit

     subcommands:
       valid subcommands

       {foo,bar}   additional help

   One particularly effective way of handling subcommands is to combine the use
   of the :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_subparsers` method with calls to :meth:`~ArgumentParser.set_defaults` so
   that each subparser knows which Python function it should execute.  For
   example::

     >>> # subcommand functions
     >>> def foo(args):
     ...     print(args.x * args.y)
     ...
     >>> def bar(args):
     ...     print('((%s))' % args.z)
     ...
     >>> # create the top-level parser
     >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
     >>> subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(required=True)
     >>>
     >>> # create the parser for the "foo" command
     >>> parser_foo = subparsers.add_parser('foo')
     >>> parser_foo.add_argument('-x', type=int, default=1)
     >>> parser_foo.add_argument('y', type=float)
     >>> parser_foo.set_defaults(func=foo)
     >>>
     >>> # create the parser for the "bar" command
     >>> parser_bar = subparsers.add_parser('bar')
     >>> parser_bar.add_argument('z')
     >>> parser_bar.set_defaults(func=bar)
     >>>
     >>> # parse the args and call whatever function was selected
     >>> args = parser.parse_args('foo 1 -x 2'.split())
     >>> args.func(args)
     2.0
     >>>
     >>> # parse the args and call whatever function was selected
     >>> args = parser.parse_args('bar XYZYX'.split())
     >>> args.func(args)
     ((XYZYX))

   This way, you can let :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` do the job of calling the
   appropriate function after argument parsing is complete.  Associating
   functions with actions like this is typically the easiest way to handle the
   different actions for each of your subparsers.  However, if it is necessary
   to check the name of the subparser that was invoked, the ``dest`` keyword
   argument to the :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_subparsers` call will work::

     >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
     >>> subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(dest='subparser_name')
     >>> subparser1 = subparsers.add_parser('1')
     >>> subparser1.add_argument('-x')
     >>> subparser2 = subparsers.add_parser('2')
     >>> subparser2.add_argument('y')
     >>> parser.parse_args(['2', 'frobble'])
     Namespace(subparser_name='2', y='frobble')

   .. versionchanged:: 3.7
      New *required* keyword-only parameter.

   .. versionchanged:: 3.14
      Subparser's *prog* is no longer affected by a custom usage message in
      the main parser.


.. method:: _SubParsersAction.add_parser(name, *, help=None, aliases=None, \
                                         deprecated=False, **kwargs)

   Create and return a new :class:`ArgumentParser` object for the
   subcommand *name*.

   The *name* argument is the name of the sub-command.

   The *help* argument provides a short description for this sub-command.

   The *aliases* argument allows providing alternative names for this
   sub-command. For example::

      >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
      >>> subparsers = parser.add_subparsers()
      >>> checkout = subparsers.add_parser('checkout', aliases=['co'])
      >>> checkout.add_argument('foo')
      >>> parser.parse_args(['co', 'bar'])
      Namespace(foo='bar')

   The *deprecated* argument, if ``True``, marks the sub-command as
   deprecated and will issue a warning when used. For example::

      >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='chicken.py')
      >>> subparsers = parser.add_subparsers()
      >>> fly = subparsers.add_parser('fly', deprecated=True)
      >>> args = parser.parse_args(['fly'])
      chicken.py: warning: command 'fly' is deprecated
      Namespace()

   All other keyword arguments are passed directly to the
   :class:`!ArgumentParser` constructor.

   .. versionadded:: 3.13
      Added the *deprecated* parameter.


FileType objects
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

.. class:: FileType(mode='r', bufsize=-1, encoding=None, errors=None)

   The :class:`FileType` factory creates objects that can be passed to the type
   argument of :meth:`ArgumentParser.add_argument`.  Arguments that have
   :class:`FileType` objects as their type will open command-line arguments as
   files with the requested modes, buffer sizes, encodings and error handling
   (see the :func:`open` function for more details)::

      >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
      >>> parser.add_argument('--raw', type=argparse.FileType('wb', 0))
      >>> parser.add_argument('out', type=argparse.FileType('w', encoding='UTF-8'))
      >>> parser.parse_args(['--raw', 'raw.dat', 'file.txt'])
      Namespace(out=<_io.TextIOWrapper name='file.txt' mode='w' encoding='UTF-8'>, raw=<_io.FileIO name='raw.dat' mode='wb'>)

   FileType objects understand the pseudo-argument ``'-'`` and automatically
   convert this into :data:`sys.stdin` for readable :class:`FileType` objects and
   :data:`sys.stdout` for writable :class:`FileType` objects::

      >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
      >>> parser.add_argument('infile', type=argparse.FileType('r'))
      >>> parser.parse_args(['-'])
      Namespace(infile=<_io.TextIOWrapper name='<stdin>' encoding='UTF-8'>)

   .. note::

      If one argument uses *FileType* and then a subsequent argument fails,
      an error is reported but the file is not automatically closed.
      This can also clobber the output files.
      In this case, it would be better to wait until after the parser has
      run and then use the :keyword:`with`-statement to manage the files.

   .. versionchanged:: 3.4
      Added the *encoding* and *errors* parameters.

   .. deprecated:: 3.14


Argument groups
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

.. method:: ArgumentParser.add_argument_group(title=None, description=None, *, \
                                              [argument_default], [conflict_handler])

   By default, :class:`ArgumentParser` groups command-line arguments into
   "positional arguments" and "options" when displaying help
   messages. When there is a better conceptual grouping of arguments than this
   default one, appropriate groups can be created using the
   :meth:`!add_argument_group` method::

     >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG', add_help=False)
     >>> group = parser.add_argument_group('group')
     >>> group.add_argument('--foo', help='foo help')
     >>> group.add_argument('bar', help='bar help')
     >>> parser.print_help()
     usage: PROG [--foo FOO] bar

     group:
       bar    bar help
       --foo FOO  foo help

   The :meth:`add_argument_group` method returns an argument group object which
   has an :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument` method just like a regular
   :class:`ArgumentParser`.  When an argument is added to the group, the parser
   treats it just like a normal argument, but displays the argument in a
   separate group for help messages.  The :meth:`!add_argument_group` method
   accepts *title* and *description* arguments which can be used to
   customize this display::

     >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG', add_help=False)
     >>> group1 = parser.add_argument_group('group1', 'group1 description')
     >>> group1.add_argument('foo', help='foo help')
     >>> group2 = parser.add_argument_group('group2', 'group2 description')
     >>> group2.add_argument('--bar', help='bar help')
     >>> parser.print_help()
     usage: PROG [--bar BAR] foo

     group1:
       group1 description

       foo    foo help

     group2:
       group2 description

       --bar BAR  bar help

   The optional, keyword-only parameters argument_default_ and conflict_handler_
   allow for finer-grained control of the behavior of the argument group. These
   parameters have the same meaning as in the :class:`ArgumentParser` constructor,
   but apply specifically to the argument group rather than the entire parser.

   Note that any arguments not in your user-defined groups will end up back
   in the usual "positional arguments" and "optional arguments" sections.

   Within each argument group, arguments are displayed in help output in the
   order in which they are added.

   .. deprecated-removed:: 3.11 3.14
      Calling :meth:`add_argument_group` on an argument group now raises an
      exception. This nesting was never supported, often failed to work
      correctly, and was unintentionally exposed through inheritance.

   .. deprecated:: 3.14
      Passing prefix_chars_ to :meth:`add_argument_group`
      is now deprecated.


Mutual exclusion
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

.. method:: ArgumentParser.add_mutually_exclusive_group(required=False)

   Create a mutually exclusive group. :mod:`!argparse` will make sure that only
   one of the arguments in the mutually exclusive group was present on the
   command line::

     >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG')
     >>> group = parser.add_mutually_exclusive_group()
     >>> group.add_argument('--foo', action='store_true')
     >>> group.add_argument('--bar', action='store_false')
     >>> parser.parse_args(['--foo'])
     Namespace(bar=True, foo=True)
     >>> parser.parse_args(['--bar'])
     Namespace(bar=False, foo=False)
     >>> parser.parse_args(['--foo', '--bar'])
     usage: PROG [-h] [--foo | --bar]
     PROG: error: argument --bar: not allowed with argument --foo

   The :meth:`add_mutually_exclusive_group` method also accepts a *required*
   argument, to indicate that at least one of the mutually exclusive arguments
   is required::

     >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG')
     >>> group = parser.add_mutually_exclusive_group(required=True)
     >>> group.add_argument('--foo', action='store_true')
     >>> group.add_argument('--bar', action='store_false')
     >>> parser.parse_args([])
     usage: PROG [-h] (--foo | --bar)
     PROG: error: one of the arguments --foo --bar is required

   Note that currently mutually exclusive argument groups do not support the
   *title* and *description* arguments of
   :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument_group`. However, a mutually exclusive
   group can be added to an argument group that has a title and description.
   For example::

     >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG')
     >>> group = parser.add_argument_group('Group title', 'Group description')
     >>> exclusive_group = group.add_mutually_exclusive_group(required=True)
     >>> exclusive_group.add_argument('--foo', help='foo help')
     >>> exclusive_group.add_argument('--bar', help='bar help')
     >>> parser.print_help()
     usage: PROG [-h] (--foo FOO | --bar BAR)

     options:
       -h, --help  show this help message and exit

     Group title:
       Group description

       --foo FOO   foo help
       --bar BAR   bar help

   .. deprecated-removed:: 3.11 3.14
      Calling :meth:`add_argument_group` or :meth:`add_mutually_exclusive_group`
      on a mutually exclusive group now raises an exception. This nesting was
      never supported, often failed to work correctly, and was unintentionally
      exposed through inheritance.


Parser defaults
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

.. method:: ArgumentParser.set_defaults(**kwargs)

   Most of the time, the attributes of the object returned by :meth:`parse_args`
   will be fully determined by inspecting the command-line arguments and the argument
   actions.  :meth:`set_defaults` allows some additional
   attributes that are determined without any inspection of the command line to
   be added::

     >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
     >>> parser.add_argument('foo', type=int)
     >>> parser.set_defaults(bar=42, baz='badger')
     >>> parser.parse_args(['736'])
     Namespace(bar=42, baz='badger', foo=736)

   Note that defaults can be set at both the parser level using :meth:`set_defaults`
   and at the argument level using :meth:`add_argument`. If both are called for the
   same argument, the last default set for an argument is used::

     >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
     >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', default='bar')
     >>> parser.set_defaults(foo='spam')
     >>> parser.parse_args([])
     Namespace(foo='spam')

   Parser-level defaults can be particularly useful when working with multiple
   parsers.  See the :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_subparsers` method for an
   example of this type.

.. method:: ArgumentParser.get_default(dest)

   Get the default value for a namespace attribute, as set by either
   :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument` or by
   :meth:`~ArgumentParser.set_defaults`::

     >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
     >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', default='badger')
     >>> parser.get_default('foo')
     'badger'


Printing help
^^^^^^^^^^^^^

In most typical applications, :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` will take
care of formatting and printing any usage or error messages.  However, several
formatting methods are available:

.. method:: ArgumentParser.print_usage(file=None)

   Print a brief description of how the :class:`ArgumentParser` should be
   invoked on the command line.  If *file* is ``None``, :data:`sys.stdout` is
   assumed.

.. method:: ArgumentParser.print_help(file=None)

   Print a help message, including the program usage and information about the
   arguments registered with the :class:`ArgumentParser`.  If *file* is
   ``None``, :data:`sys.stdout` is assumed.

There are also variants of these methods that simply return a string instead of
printing it:

.. method:: ArgumentParser.format_usage()

   Return a string containing a brief description of how the
   :class:`ArgumentParser` should be invoked on the command line.

.. method:: ArgumentParser.format_help()

   Return a string containing a help message, including the program usage and
   information about the arguments registered with the :class:`ArgumentParser`.


Partial parsing
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

.. method:: ArgumentParser.parse_known_args(args=None, namespace=None)

   Sometimes a script only needs to handle a specific set of command-line
   arguments, leaving any unrecognized arguments for another script or program.
   In these cases, the :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_known_args` method can be
   useful.

   This method works similarly to :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args`, but it does
   not raise an error for extra, unrecognized arguments. Instead, it parses the
   known arguments and returns a two item tuple that contains the populated
   namespace and the list of any unrecognized arguments.

   ::

      >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
      >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', action='store_true')
      >>> parser.add_argument('bar')
      >>> parser.parse_known_args(['--foo', '--badger', 'BAR', 'spam'])
      (Namespace(bar='BAR', foo=True), ['--badger', 'spam'])

.. warning::
   :ref:`Prefix matching <prefix-matching>` rules apply to
   :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_known_args`. The parser may consume an option even if it's just
   a prefix of one of its known options, instead of leaving it in the remaining
   arguments list.


Customizing file parsing
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

.. method:: ArgumentParser.convert_arg_line_to_args(arg_line)

   Arguments that are read from a file (see the *fromfile_prefix_chars*
   keyword argument to the :class:`ArgumentParser` constructor) are read one
   argument per line. :meth:`convert_arg_line_to_args` can be overridden for
   fancier reading.

   This method takes a single argument *arg_line* which is a string read from
   the argument file.  It returns a list of arguments parsed from this string.
   The method is called once per line read from the argument file, in order.

   A useful override of this method is one that treats each space-separated word
   as an argument.  The following example demonstrates how to do this::

    class MyArgumentParser(argparse.ArgumentParser):
        def convert_arg_line_to_args(self, arg_line):
            return arg_line.split()


Exiting methods
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

.. method:: ArgumentParser.exit(status=0, message=None)

   This method terminates the program, exiting with the specified *status*
   and, if given, it prints a *message* to :data:`sys.stderr` before that.
   The user can override this method to handle these steps differently::

    class ErrorCatchingArgumentParser(argparse.ArgumentParser):
        def exit(self, status=0, message=None):
            if status:
                raise Exception(f'Exiting because of an error: {message}')
            exit(status)

.. method:: ArgumentParser.error(message)

   This method prints a usage message, including the *message*, to
   :data:`sys.stderr` and terminates the program with a status code of 2.


Intermixed parsing
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

.. method:: ArgumentParser.parse_intermixed_args(args=None, namespace=None)
.. method:: ArgumentParser.parse_known_intermixed_args(args=None, namespace=None)

   A number of Unix commands allow the user to intermix optional arguments with
   positional arguments.  The :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_intermixed_args`
   and :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_known_intermixed_args` methods
   support this parsing style.

   These parsers do not support all the :mod:`!argparse` features, and will raise
   exceptions if unsupported features are used.  In particular, subparsers,
   and mutually exclusive groups that include both
   optionals and positionals are not supported.

   The following example shows the difference between
   :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_known_args` and
   :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_intermixed_args`: the former returns ``['2',
   '3']`` as unparsed arguments, while the latter collects all the positionals
   into ``rest``.  ::

      >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
      >>> parser.add_argument('--foo')
      >>> parser.add_argument('cmd')
      >>> parser.add_argument('rest', nargs='*', type=int)
      >>> parser.parse_known_args('doit 1 --foo bar 2 3'.split())
      (Namespace(cmd='doit', foo='bar', rest=[1]), ['2', '3'])
      >>> parser.parse_intermixed_args('doit 1 --foo bar 2 3'.split())
      Namespace(cmd='doit', foo='bar', rest=[1, 2, 3])

   :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_known_intermixed_args` returns a two item tuple
   containing the populated namespace and the list of remaining argument strings.
   :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_intermixed_args` raises an error if there are any
   remaining unparsed argument strings.

   .. versionadded:: 3.7


Registering custom types or actions
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

.. method:: ArgumentParser.register(registry_name, value, object)

   Sometimes it's desirable to use a custom string in error messages to provide
   more user-friendly output. In these cases, :meth:`!register` can be used to
   register custom actions or types with a parser and allow you to reference the
   type by their registered name instead of their callable name.

   The :meth:`!register` method accepts three arguments - a *registry_name*,
   specifying the internal registry where the object will be stored (e.g.,
   ``action``, ``type``), *value*, which is the key under which the object will
   be registered, and object, the callable to be registered.

   The following example shows how to register a custom type with a parser::

      >>> import argparse
      >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
      >>> parser.register('type', 'hexadecimal integer', lambda s: int(s, 16))
      >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', type='hexadecimal integer')
      _StoreAction(option_strings=['--foo'], dest='foo', nargs=None, const=None, default=None, type='hexadecimal integer', choices=None, required=False, help=None, metavar=None, deprecated=False)
      >>> parser.parse_args(['--foo', '0xFA'])
      Namespace(foo=250)
      >>> parser.parse_args(['--foo', '1.2'])
      usage: PROG [-h] [--foo FOO]
      PROG: error: argument --foo: invalid 'hexadecimal integer' value: '1.2'

Exceptions
----------

.. exception:: ArgumentError

   An error from creating or using an argument (optional or positional).

   The string value of this exception is the message, augmented with
   information about the argument that caused it.

.. exception:: ArgumentTypeError

   Raised when something goes wrong converting a command line string to a type.


.. rubric:: Guides and Tutorials

.. toctree::
   :maxdepth: 1

   ../howto/argparse.rst
   ../howto/argparse-optparse.rst