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docs: add util.parseArgs replacements for CLI argument parsers #274

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27 changes: 27 additions & 0 deletions docs/modules/parseargs.md
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---
description: Modern alternatives to CLI argument parsing packages using Node.js built-in util.parseArgs
---

# Replacements for argument parsers

## `util.parseArgs` (native, Node.js)

[`util.parseArgs`](https://nodejs.org/api/util.html#utilparseargsconfig) is built into Node.js (since 18.3.0 and 16.17.0) and can replace many common CLI parsing libraries such as `minimist`, `mri`, `arg`, `meow`, `yargs-parser`, `yargs`, `commander`, and `sade`.

Example:

```ts
import { parseArgs } from 'node:util'

const { values, positionals } = parseArgs({
args: process.argv.slice(2),
options: {
force: { type: 'boolean', short: 'f' },
output: { type: 'string', short: 'o' },
},
allowPositionals: true,
})
```

> [!NOTE]
> `parseArgs` only supports `string` and `boolean` types and does not provide subcommand routing, auto-generated help, or validation. If your CLI relies heavily on these features, evaluate whether the dependency savings justify the added code.
54 changes: 54 additions & 0 deletions manifests/preferred.json
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Expand Up @@ -18,6 +18,12 @@
"replacements": ["node:stream"],
"url": {"type": "e18e", "id": "through"}
},
"arg": {
"type": "module",
"moduleName": "arg",
"replacements": ["util.parseArgs"],
"url": {"type": "e18e", "id": "parseargs"}
},
"axios": {
"type": "module",
"moduleName": "axios",
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -84,6 +90,12 @@
"replacements": ["util.styleText", "picocolors", "ansis"],
"url": {"type": "e18e", "id": "chalk"}
},
"commander": {
"type": "module",
"moduleName": "commander",
"replacements": ["util.parseArgs"],
"url": {"type": "e18e", "id": "parseargs"}
},
"core-util-is": {
"type": "module",
"moduleName": "core-util-is",
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -2304,6 +2316,18 @@
"replacements": ["node:crypto"],
"url": {"type": "e18e", "id": "md5"}
},
"meow": {
"type": "module",
"moduleName": "meow",
"replacements": ["util.parseArgs"],
"url": {"type": "e18e", "id": "parseargs"}
},
"minimist": {
"type": "module",
"moduleName": "minimist",
"replacements": ["util.parseArgs"],
"url": {"type": "e18e", "id": "parseargs"}
},
"mkdirp": {
"type": "module",
"moduleName": "mkdirp",
Expand All @@ -2316,6 +2340,12 @@
"replacements": ["day.js", "date-fns", "luxon", "Date"],
"url": {"type": "e18e", "id": "moment"}
},
"mri": {
"type": "module",
"moduleName": "mri",
"replacements": ["util.parseArgs"],
"url": {"type": "e18e", "id": "parseargs"}
},
"node-fetch": {
"type": "module",
"moduleName": "node-fetch",
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -2464,6 +2494,12 @@
"replacements": ["fs.rm", "fs.rmdir", "premove"],
"url": {"type": "e18e", "id": "rimraf"}
},
"sade": {
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@43081j 43081j Mar 15, 2026

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I'm not sure sade should be in here.

From what I remember it uses mri under the hood to do arguments parsing. But it exists to provide help text etc on top of that.

In a future pr, we should probably add sade as a replacement itself for some packages in fact

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@gameroman gameroman Mar 15, 2026

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It does use mri, yes

"type": "module",
"moduleName": "sade",
"replacements": ["util.parseArgs"],
"url": {"type": "e18e", "id": "parseargs"}
},
"set-value": {
"type": "module",
"moduleName": "set-value",
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -2559,6 +2595,18 @@
"moduleName": "xmldom",
"replacements": ["@xmldom/xmldom"],
"url": {"type": "e18e", "id": "xmldom"}
},
"yargs": {
"type": "module",
"moduleName": "yargs",
"replacements": ["util.parseArgs"],
"url": {"type": "e18e", "id": "parseargs"}
},
"yargs-parser": {
"type": "module",
"moduleName": "yargs-parser",
"replacements": ["util.parseArgs"],
"url": {"type": "e18e", "id": "parseargs"}
}
},
"replacements": {
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -3259,6 +3307,12 @@
"nodeFeatureId": {"moduleName": "node:util", "exportName": "types"},
"url": {"type": "node", "id": "api/util.html#utiltypes"}
},
"util.parseArgs": {
"id": "util.parseArgs",
"type": "native",
"nodeFeatureId": {"moduleName": "node:util", "exportName": "parseArgs"},
"url": {"type": "node", "id": "api/util.html#utilparseargsconfig"}
},
"webpack.output.clean": {
"id": "webpack.output.clean",
"type": "documented",
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