shtab
What: Automatically generate shell tab completion scripts for Python CLI apps
Why: Speed & correctness. Alternatives like argcomplete and pyzshcomplete are slow and have side-effects
How: shtab processes an argparse.ArgumentParser object to generate a tab completion script for your shell
Features
Outputs tab completion scripts for multiple shells
bash, zsh, fish, tcsh, powershell
Supports
<arguments>, --options and sub commands
Choices (--say={hello,goodbye})
Paths (--file={*.y*ml,*.toml}, --dir=*/)
Dynamic shell commands (--branch=$(git branch))
Installation
Choose one of:
pip install shtab, or
conda install -c conda-forge shtab
Usage
There are two ways of using shtab:
CLI Usage: shtab’s own CLI interface for external applications
may not require any code modifications whatsoever
end-users execute shtab your_cli_app.your_parser_object
Library Usage: as a library integrated into your CLI application
adds a couple of lines to your application
argument mode: end-users execute your_cli_app --print-completion {bash,zsh,tcsh,fish,powershell}
subparser mode: end-users execute your_cli_app completion {bash,zsh,tcsh,fish,powershell}
Examples
FAQs
Not working? Check out frequently asked questions.
Alternatives
All these execute the underlying script every time <TAB> is pressed (slow and have side-effects):
pyzshcomplete (only provides zsh completion)
click (don’t want to migrate away from click? Use shtab’s one-liner click integration in the CLI or in a library)
Contributions
Please do open issues & pull requests! Some ideas:
support python -m prefix (#55)
See CONTRIBUTING.md for more guidance.
4 maintainers
Release files for shtab 1.12.1
For a detailed explanation of source distributions (sdists) and built distributions (wheels), please see the package formats documentation.
Source distribution (sdist)
| File | Size | Uploaded | |
|---|---|---|---|
| shtab-1.12.1.tar.gz | 66.2 kB | Details |
Built distribution (wheel)
| File | Interpreter | ABI | Platform | Reset |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| shtab-1.12.1-py3-none-any.whl | Python 3 | none | any | Details |
Total release size: 89.0 kB
Release files / shtab-1.12.1.tar.gz
| Download URL | shtab-1.12.1.tar.gz |
|---|---|
| Size | 66.2 kB |
| Tags | Source |
|
SHA-256 checksum How to use checksums |
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Transparency logRelease files / shtab-1.12.1-py3-none-any.whl
| Download URL | shtab-1.12.1-py3-none-any.whl |
|---|---|
| Size | 22.8 kB |
| Tags | Python 3 |
|
SHA-256 checksum How to use checksums |
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| Upload date | |
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Uploaded using Trusted Publishing? What is trusted publishing? |
Yes |
| Uploaded via |
twine/7.0.0 CPython/3.14.7
|
Provenance
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PyPI verified that this artifact, at this checksum, originated from the publisher listed below.
Signed by GitHub Actions, verified by PyPI on Sep 1, 2026.
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