treeparse 0.1.6

Intuitive CLI framework using argparse, rich, and pydantic

Treeparse

CLI framework to make command line tools maximally transparent to LLMs.

Overview

Treeparse is an intuitive CLI framework leveraging argparse, rich, and pydantic to create structured, testable command-line interfaces. It mirrors the tree-like help output of treeclick but uses argparse for parsing and pydantic for model-based definitions.

Key goals include speed, LLM transparency (JSON and rich tree help formats), ease of authoring (especially for AI-generated code).

Key Features

• Object-Oriented Structure: Define CLI using Pydantic models: cli, group, command, argument, option.
• Rich Tree Help: Tree-structured help with branch pruning for subcommands, including higher levels.
• JSON Output: --json / -j provides syntax-highlighted JSON of the CLI structure for LLM parsing.
• Parameter Validation: Automatic matching of callback params to CLI definitions (names, types).
• Sorting: sort_key for ordering elements in help outputs.
• Type and Default Display: Optional show_types and show_defaults flags to include types and defaults in help.
• Nargs Support: Handles variable arguments/options (e.g., *, + for lists).
• Boolean Handling: Supports bool types with string-to-bool conversion.
• Argparse Abstraction: Users work with models; parsing logic is hidden.
• Dynamic Alignment: Help text aligns vertically, adjusting for type/default info.

Structure

• cli: Root with subgroups, commands, options, configs (e.g., show_types, show_defaults).
• group: Nested groups with subgroups, commands, options.
• command: Commands with callbacks, arguments, options.
• argument: Positional args (type, nargs, default, etc.).
• option: Flags/options (type, nargs, default, etc.).

Models are modularized into files: argument.py, option.py, command.py, group.py, color_config.py, cli.py.

Initialization in __init__.py rebuilds models to handle forward references.

Usage Example

From examples/basic.py:

from treeparse import cli, command

def hello():
    print("Hello, world!")

app = cli(
    name="basic.py",
    help="A basic CLI example.",
    commands=[
        command(
            name="hello",
            help="Print hello world.",
            callback=hello,
        )
    ],
)

def main():
    app.run()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Run: python examples/basic.py hello

Help Output

Tree-structured help prunes irrelevant branches for subcommands while retaining context. Supports long help text wrapping.

LLM Transparency

• Rich Tree Format: Visual, human/LLM-readable tree.
• JSON Format: Structured, parseable output for LLMs.

Current Status

• Implemented: Model definitions, tree/JSON help, validation, nargs, bool support, type/default display.
• Examples: basic.py, demo.py (complex), list_demo.py (nargs).
• Tests: Extensive pytest coverage (validation, execution, outputs) with cov reporting.
• Tools: Ruff for lint/format, pytest-cov for coverage.

Plan

• [active], make cli (inherit from) a group, so that a higher level cli can be constructed that can add an existing CLI as a sub-cli without any additional code
  • when this happens, use the layout options (colors, show_types etc) from the new top level

Planned: Config overriding.

License

MIT License.