Export / Introspection

The export API exposes every registered argument definition at runtime. This is useful for documentation generators, client-side scaffolding, protocol-level argument exchange, and CLI tooling that needs to reason about its own schema.

Quick Start

var parser = try args.ArgumentParser.init(allocator, .{ .name = "myapp" });
defer parser.deinit();

try parser.addFlag("verbose", .{ .short = 'v', .help = "Enable verbose output" });
try parser.addOption("output", .{ .short = 'o', .help = "Output file" });
try parser.addSubcommand(.{ .name = "init", .help = "Initialize project" });

// Get all arguments
const all_args = parser.getAllArgs();
for (all_args) |arg| {
    std.debug.print("{s}: {s}\n", .{ arg.name, arg.value_type.typeName() });
}

// Get all subcommands
const subs = parser.getAllSubcommands();
for (subs) |sub| {
    std.debug.print("sub: {s}\n", .{sub.name});
}

API Reference

getAllArgs

Returns a read-only slice of every registered ArgSpec.

pub fn getAllArgs(self: *const ArgumentParser) []const ArgSpec

The returned pointers remain valid until the parser is deinitialised or the argument list is mutated.

getAllSubcommands

Returns a read-only slice of every registered SubcommandSpec.

pub fn getAllSubcommands(self: *const ArgumentParser) []const SubcommandSpec

getAllGroups

Returns a read-only slice of every registered ArgumentGroup.

pub fn getAllGroups(self: *const ArgumentParser) []const ArgumentGroup

getAllMutualExclusions

Returns the mutual-exclusion groups. Each group is a slice of argument names.

pub fn getAllMutualExclusions(self: *const ArgumentParser) []const []const []const u8

exportSpec

Builds and returns the full CommandSpec snapshot.

pub fn exportSpec(self: *ArgumentParser) CommandSpec

This is equivalent to buildSpec but available as a convenience for callers who only need the snapshot without further mutation.

getArgSpec

Looks up a single ArgSpec by name, long flag, destination, or alias. Returns null if no argument matches.

pub fn getArgSpec(self: *const ArgumentParser, name: []const u8) ?ArgSpec

totalArgCount

Returns the number of registered arguments (including hidden ones).

pub fn totalArgCount(self: *const ArgumentParser) usize

totalSubcommandCount

Returns the number of registered subcommands.

pub fn totalSubcommandCount(self: *const ArgumentParser) usize

totalGroupCount

Returns the number of registered argument groups.

pub fn totalGroupCount(self: *const ArgumentParser) usize

ArgSpec Fields

Each ArgSpec returned by the export methods contains:

Field	Type	Description
name	[]const u8	Primary argument name
short	?u8	Short flag character (e.g. 'v' for -v)
long	?[]const u8	Long flag name (e.g. "verbose" for --verbose)
help	?[]const u8	Help text
value_type	ValueType	Expected value type (string, int, float, bool, etc.)
action	ArgAction	How the argument is processed (store, store_true, count, etc.)
required	bool	Whether the argument is required
default	?[]const u8	Default value
choices	[]const []const u8	Allowed values
metavar	?[]const u8	Metavar for help text
dest	?[]const u8	Destination key for parsed result
env_var	?[]const u8	Environment variable fallback
positional	bool	Whether this is a positional argument
hidden	bool	Whether this is hidden from help
group	?[]const u8	Argument group name
deprecated	?[]const u8	Deprecation message
conflicts_with	[]const []const u8	Mutually exclusive arguments
requires	[]const []const u8	Required companion arguments
required_if	[]const RequiredIf	Conditional requirements

Example Output

=== Registered Arguments (4) ===
  verbose  (-v)  [BOOL]  -- Enable verbose output
  output   (-o)  [STRING]  (default: stdout)  -- Output file path
  port     (-p)  [INT]  (default: 8080)  -- Listen port
  config   [STRING]  REQUIRED  -- Path to configuration file

=== Subcommands (2) ===
  serve  -- Start the server
  check  -- Validate configuration

=== Argument Groups (1) ===
  Network  -- Connection-related options  (exclusive: false, required: false)

=== Full Spec Snapshot ===
  name:    export-example
  version: 1.0.0
  args:    4
  subs:    2

=== Lookup: 'port' ===
  name:      port
  type:      INT
  default:   8080
  dest:      port