cr-manager -- the Copyright Header Manager

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

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

Features and Format

• 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.

• check format details in Supported File Types and Formats
• modify or add new format check: Format Configuration | Modifying an Existing Format | Adding a New Format

# ========================== #
# Copyright © 2026 Marslo    #
# Licensed under MIT         #
# ========================== #

/**
 *****************************
 * Copyright © 2026 Marslo   *
 * Licensed under MIT        *
 *****************************
**/

/**
 * Copyright © 2026 Marslo
 * Licensed under MIT
 */

How to Contribute

Action Modes

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

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

TIP: --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

TIP: --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

# ============================================================================ #
# Copyright © 2026 marslo                                                      #
# Licensed under the MIT License, Version 2.0                                  #
# ============================================================================ #

/**
 *******************************************************************************
 * Copyright © 2026 marslo                                                     *
 * Licensed under the MIT License, Version 2.0                                 *
 *******************************************************************************
**/

/**
 * Copyright © 2026 marslo
 * Licensed under the MIT License, Version 2.0
 */

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"

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: v4.0.1
    hooks:
      - id: cr-manager
        args: ["--update"]

# install with git repo
---
repos:
  - repo: https://github.com/marslo/cr-manager
    rev: v4.0.1
    hooks:
      - id: cr-manager
        args: ["--update", "--copyright", "path/to/COPYRIGHT"]
        files: ^(jenkinsfile/|.*\.(groovy|py|sh)$)

# install with local repo + pypi package
---
repos:
  - repo: local
    hooks:
      - id: cr-manager
        name: cr-manager
        language: python
        additional_dependencies: ["cr-manager==4.0.1"]
        entry: cr-manager
        args: ["--update", "--copyright", "COPYRIGHT"]
        files: ^(jenkinsfile/|.*\.(groovy|py|sh)$)
        require_serial: true

IMPORTANT: require_serial: true is required for the local repo recipe so pre-commit passes all matched files to a single cr-manager invocation. Without it, pre-commit splits the files across multiple concurrent processes and the progress counter restarts per batch (e.g. 1/4 … 4/4 twice instead of 1/8 … 8/8). The repo:-based recipes inherit this automatically from the hook definition.

# only check the copyright headers without modifying files after commit
---
repos:
  - repo: https://github.com/marslo/cr-manager
    rev: v4.0.1
    hooks:
      - id: cr-manager
        args: ["--check"]
        stages: [post-commit]

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.