cr-manager 3.3.3

Tool to automatically add, update, or delete multi-format copyright headers

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cr-manager -- the Copyright Header Manager

A tool to automatically add, update, or delete multi-format copyright headers in source files.

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• Features
• How to Contribute
• Action Modes
  • Add New Copyright Headers
  • Update Existing Copyright Headers
  • Delete Existing Copyright Headers
  • Debug Mode
  • Supported File Types and Formats
  • pre-commit hook
• Install
  • Binary
  • bash completion
• Help Message

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Features

• Add: Insert copyright headers for multiple file types.
• Update: Force update or insert headers if missing.
• Check: Verify the presence and correctness of headers.
• Delete: Remove detected copyright headers from files.
• Supports recursive directory traversal and filetype auto-detection or override.
• Supports combined author-info and copyright headers.

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How to Contribute

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Action Modes

without any action mode specified, the default action is to add copyright headers.

OPTION	DESCRIPTION
	Add mode: Automatically adds copyright headers to files (default).
--add	Add mode: Automatically adds copyright headers to files (default).
--check	Check mode: Verifies file copyright status (match, mismatch, or not found).
--delete	Delete mode: Removes detected copyright headers from files.
--update	Update mode: Forces replacement of copyright or adds it if missing.

Add New Copyright Headers

# single file
$ cr-manager /path/to/file
# or
$ cr-manager --add /path/to/file

# files recursively in directories
$ cr-manager --recursive /path/to/directory
# or
$ cr-manager --add --recursive /path/to/directory

# add to non-supported suffixes with supplied filetype
# -- e.g. add to .txt files as python files --
$ cr-manager --filetype python /path/to/file.txt
# or
$ cr-manager --add --filetype python /path/to/file.txt

Update Existing Copyright Headers

--filetype <TYPE> can be used to force a specific filetype for the update action, overriding auto-detection.

# single file
$ cr-manager --update /path/to/file

# files recursively in directories
$ cr-manager --update --recursive /path/to/directory

Delete Existing Copyright Headers

--filetype <TYPE> can be used to force a specific filetype for the delete action, overriding auto-detection.

# single file
$ cr-manager --delete /path/to/file

# files recursively in directories
$ cr-manger --delete --recursive /path/to/directory

Debug Mode

# *add* without modifying files
$ cr-manager --debug /path/to/file
# or
$ cr-manager --add --debug /path/to/file

# *update* without modifying files
$ cr-manager --update --debug /path/to/file

# *delete* without modifying files
$ cr-manager --delete --debug /path/to/file

Supported File Types and Formats

• check Running as CLI tool

FILETYPE	SUFFIXES
python, shell, bash, sh, dockerfile	.py, .sh, .dockerfile

$ cr-manager --filetype python
# ============================================================================ #
# Copyright © 2026 marslo                                                      #
# Licensed under the MIT License, Version 2.0                                  #
# ============================================================================ #

---

FILETYPE	SUFFIXES
jenkinsfile, groovy, gradle, java	.groovy, .java

$ cr-manager --filetype groovy
/**
 *******************************************************************************
 * Copyright © 2026 marslo                                                     *
 * Licensed under the MIT License, Version 2.0                                 *
 *******************************************************************************
**/

---

FILETYPE	SUFFIXES
c, cpp, c++, cxx, h, hpp, hxx	.c, .cpp, .cxx, .h, .hpp, .hxx

$ cr-manager --filetype cpp
/**
 * Copyright © 2026 marslo
 * Licensed under the MIT License, Version 2.0
 */

---

pre-commit hook

# if `COPYRIGHT` file can be found in the root directory of this repository
---
repos:
  - repo: https://github.com/marslo/cr-manager
    rev: v3.3.3
    hooks:
      - id: cr-manager
        args: ["--update"]

# specify the path to the COPYRIGHT file
---
repos:
  - repo: https://github.com/marslo/cr-manager
    rev: v3.3.3
    hooks:
      - id: cr-manager
        args: ["--update", "--copyright", "/path/to/COPYRIGHT"]
        files: ^(jenkinsfile/|.*\.(groovy|py|sh)$)

# only check the copyright headers without modifying files after commit
---
repos:
  - repo: https://github.com/marslo/cr-manager
    rev: v3.3.3
    hooks:
      - id: cr-manager
        args: ["--check"]
        stages: [post-commit]

---

Install

Binary

• pipx installation ( how to install pipx )

  $ python3 -m pip install pipx
  $ python3 -m pipx ensurepath
  

• enable the ansicolor in Windows terminal for better output experience.

  > reg add HKCU\Console /v VirtualTerminalLevel /t REG_DWORD /d 1
  

# via pipx
$ pipx install --force "git+https://github.com/marslo/cr-manager"
# via pip
$ python3 -m pip install cr-manager

# with binary
$ VERSION="$(curl -fsSL https://api.github.com/repos/marslo/cr-manager/releases/latest | jq -r .tag_name)"
# -- linux --
$ curl -fsSL -o cr-manager https://github.com/marslo/cr-manager/releases/download/${VERSION}/cr-manager-linux
# macos
$ curl -fsSL -o cr-manager https://github.com/marslo/cr-manager/releases/download/${VERSION}/cr-manager-macos
# Windows - running in cmd
> powershell -NoProfile -Command "$v=(Invoke-WebRequest -Uri 'https://api.github.com/repos/marslo/cr-manager/releases/latest' -UseBasicParsing | ConvertFrom-Json).tag_name; Invoke-WebRequest -Uri ('https://github.com/marslo/cr-manager/releases/download/'+$v+'/cr-manager.exe') -OutFile 'cr-manager.exe'; Write-Host ('Downloaded '+$v)"

bash completion

automatically detect the OS and install bash completion to the appropriate directory:

• macos: $(brew --prefix)/etc/bash_completion.d → $XDG_DATA_HOME/.local/share → ~/.bash_completion.d
• linux: $XDG_DATA_HOME/.local/share → ~/.bash_completion.d → /usr/share/bash-completion/completions → /etc/bash_completion.d

# macos
$ cr-manager --install-completion
# or install manually
$ cr-manager --completion | tee "$(brew --prefix)/etc/bash_completion.d/cr-manager"

# linux user folder
$ cr-manager --install-completion
# or install manually
$ cr-manager --completion | tee ~/.bash_completion.d/cr-manager

# linux system folder (requires sudo)
$ sudo cr-manager --install-completion
# or install manually
$ cr-manager --completion | sudo tee /etc/bash_completion.d/cr-manager

# uninstall
test -f ~/.bash_completion.d/cr-manager && rm -rf ~/.bash_completion.d/cr-manager
test -f /etc/bash_completion.d/cr-manager && sudo rm -rf /etc/bash_completion.d/cr-manager
[[ 'Darwin' = "$(uname -s)" ]] && test -f "$(brew --prefix)/etc/bash_completion.d/cr-manager" && rm -rf "$(brew --prefix)/etc/bash_completion.d/cr-manager"

Help Message

$ cr-manager --help
USAGE:
  cr-manager [--add | --check | --delete | --update] [--copyright FILE] [--filetype TYPE] [--recursive]
             [--debug] [--verbose] [--completion] [--install-completion] [--help] [--version]
             FILES ...

A tool to automatically add, update, or delete multi-format copyright headers.

POSITIONAL ARGUMENTS:
  FILES ...                 List of target files or directories to process.

ACTION MODES:
  -a, --add                 Add mode: Adds copyright header to files that are missing it (default).
  -c, --check               Check mode: Verifies file copyright status (match, mismatch, or not found).
  -d, --delete              Delete mode: Removes detected copyright headers from files.
  -u, --update              Update mode: Forces replacement of copyright or adds it if missing.

OPTIONS:
  --copyright FILE          Specify the copyright template file path (default: COPYRIGHT).
  -t, --filetype TYPE       Force override a filetype instead of auto-detection.
                            If provided, displays a formatted preview for that type. Supported: bash, c,
                            c++, cpp, cxx, dockerfile, gradle, groovy, h, hpp, hxx, java, jenkinsfile,
                            python, sh, shell
  -r, --recursive           If FILES includes directories, process their contents recursively.
  --debug                   Debug mode: Preview the result of an action without modifying files.
  --verbose                 Show a detailed processing summary.
  --completion              Print the bash completion script to stdout.
  --install-completion      Install bash completion to the OS-appropriate directory (auto-detected, no
                            root needed by default).
  -h, --help                Show this help message and exit.
  -v, --version             Show program's version number and exit.