serde_args

Command line argument parsing with serde.

This library allows parsing command line arguments into types implementing Deserialize.

Features

• Help generation.
• ANSI color support.
• Integration with serde_derive, including attributes like #[serde(alias)].

Usage

Basic usage of serde_args simply involves calling the from_env() function using a type implemented Deserialize. The type you provide defines your program's argument format. On success, the type is returned; on failure, a printable Error is returned.

Here is a simple example, created using serde's #[derive(Deserialize)] macro:

use serde::Deserialize;
use std::path::PathBuf;

#[derive(Debug, Deserialize)]
#[serde(expecting = "An example program")]
struct Args {
    path: PathBuf,
    #[serde(alias = "f")]
    force: bool,
}

fn main() {
    let args = match serde_args::from_env::<Args>() {
        Ok(args) => args,
        Err(error) => {
            println!("{error}");
            return;
        }
    };
    println!("{args:?}");
}

Running the above program with no provided arguments will display the following help output:

An example program

USAGE: serde_args.exe [options] <path>

Required Arguments:
  <path>

Global Options:
  -f --force

Override Options:
  -h --help  Display this message.

Running the program with example arguments of README.md -f will show the parsed arguments:

Args { path: "README.md", force: true }

Minimum Supported Rust Version

This crate is guaranteed to compile on stable rustc 1.74.0 and up.

License

This project is licensed under either of

• Apache License, Version 2.0 (LICENSE-APACHE or http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
• MIT license (LICENSE-MIT or http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)

at your option.

Contribution

Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in the work by you, as defined in the Apache-2.0 license, shall be dual licensed as above, without any additional terms or conditions.