How to create click subcommands in python?

Question

Having looked at the documentation for commands and groups I did not find anything helpful for creating subcommands with click (version 7.1.2). Either I missed it or it is described in a very weird way.

What I want to do is to have a subcommand so I can do e.g.

python myscript.py sub1
python myscript.py sub2

which executes two different functions. Here is what I have tried:

import click

@click.group()
def sub1():
    print("sub1")

@click.group()
def sub2():
    print("sub2")

also I tried this:

import click

@click.command()
def sub1():
    print("sub1")

@click.command()
def sub2():
    print("sub2")

neither this works:

import click

@click.group()
def cli():
    print("cli")
    pass

@cli.command("sub1")
def sub1():
    print("sub1")

@cli.command("sub2")
def sub2():
    print("sub2")

But this does not seem to work (i.e. the print statements are never executed). How to do it right? And where exactly is this documented?

Also I get the same behavior when trying the exact given example from the documentation:

import click
@click.group()
@click.option('--debug/--no-debug', default=False)
def cli(debug):
    click.echo(f"Debug mode is {'on' if debug else 'off'}")

@cli.command()  # @cli, not @click!
def sync():
    click.echo('Syncing')

no output at all!

Alex · Accepted Answer · 2021-07-15 08:24:32Z

3

To create subcommands with click, and to make it work when you call your code like

python mycode.py

you need to define the __main__ thingy:

import click

@click.group()
def cli():
    pass

@cli.command("sub1")
def sub1():
    print("sub1")

@cli.command("sub2")
def sub2():
    print("sub2")

if __name__ == "__main__":
   cli()

They seem to have forgotten that to mention in their documentation, or it is hidden somewhere.

answered Jul 15, 2021 at 8:24

Alex

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1 Comment

bugmenot123 Over a year ago

The "sub1" is not needed for @cli.command(), click will use the functions name if no override is given. @cli.command() would have the same result.

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