Typer, build great CLIs. Easy to code. Based on Python type hints.

Documentation: https://typer.tiangolo.com

Source Code: https://github.com/tiangolo/typer

Typer is a library for building CLI applications that users will love using and developers will love creating. Based on Python 3.6+ type hints.

The key features are:

• Intuitive to write: Great editor support. Completion everywhere. Less time debugging. Designed to be easy to use and learn. Less time reading docs.
• Easy to use: It's easy to use for the final users. Automatic help, and automatic completion for all shells.
• Short: Minimize code duplication. Multiple features from each parameter declaration. Fewer bugs.
• Start simple: The simplest example adds only 2 lines of code to your app: 1 import, 1 function call.
• Grow large: Grow in complexity as much as you want, create arbitrarily complex trees of commands and groups of subcommands, with options and arguments.

Typer is FastAPI's little sibling.

And it's intended to be the FastAPI of CLIs.

Python 3.6+

Typer stands on the shoulders of a giant. Its only internal dependency is Click.

$ pip install typer
---> 100%
Successfully installed typer

• Create a file main.py with:

import typer


def main(name: str):
    typer.echo(f"Hello {name}")


if __name__ == "__main__":
    typer.run(main)

Run your application:

// Run your application
$ python main.py

// You get a nice error, you are missing NAME
Usage: main.py [OPTIONS] NAME
Try "main.py --help" for help.

Error: Missing argument 'NAME'.

// You get a --help for free
$ python main.py --help

Usage: main.py [OPTIONS] NAME

Arguments:
  NAME  [required]

Options:
  --install-completion  Install completion for the current shell.
  --show-completion     Show completion for the current shell, to copy it or customize the installation.
  --help                Show this message and exit.

// When you create a package you get ✨ auto-completion ✨ for free, installed with --install-completion

// Now pass the NAME argument
$ python main.py Camila

Hello Camila

// It works! 🎉

Note: auto-completion works when you create a Python package and run it with --install-completion or when you use Typer CLI.

This was the simplest example possible.

Now let's see one a bit more complex.

Modify the file main.py.

Create a typer.Typer() app, and create two subcommands with their parameters.

import typer

app = typer.Typer()


@app.command()
def hello(name: str):
    typer.echo(f"Hello {name}")


@app.command()
def goodbye(name: str, formal: bool = False):
    if formal:
        typer.echo(f"Goodbye Ms. {name}. Have a good day.")
    else:
        typer.echo(f"Bye {name}!")


if __name__ == "__main__":
    app()

And that will:

• Explicitly create a typer.Typer app.
  • The previous typer.run actually creates one implicitly for you.
• Add two subcommands with @app.command().
• Execute the app() itself, as if it was a function (instead of typer.run).

// Check the --help
$ python main.py --help

Usage: main.py [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...

Options:
  --install-completion  Install completion for the current shell.
  --show-completion     Show completion for the current shell, to copy it or customize the installation.
  --help                Show this message and exit.

Commands:
  goodbye
  hello

// You have 2 subcommands (the 2 functions): goodbye and hello

// Now get the --help for hello

$ python main.py hello --help

Usage: main.py hello [OPTIONS] NAME

Arguments:
  NAME  [required]

Options:
  --help  Show this message and exit.

// And now get the --help for goodbye

$ python main.py goodbye --help

Usage: main.py goodbye [OPTIONS] NAME

Arguments:
  NAME  [required]

Options:
  --formal / --no-formal  [default: False]
  --help                  Show this message and exit.

// Automatic --formal and --no-formal for the bool option 🎉

// And if you use it with the hello command

$ python main.py hello Camila

Hello Camila

// And with the goodbye command

$ python main.py goodbye Camila

Bye Camila!

// And with --formal

$ python main.py goodbye --formal Camila

Goodbye Ms. Camila. Have a good day.

In summary, you declare once the types of parameters (CLI arguments and CLI options) as function parameters.

You do that with standard modern Python types.

You don't have to learn a new syntax, the methods or classes of a specific library, etc.

Just standard Python 3.6+.

For example, for an int:

total: int

or for a bool flag:

force: bool

And similarly for files, paths, enums (choices), etc. And there are tools to create groups of subcommands, add metadata, extra validation, etc.

You get: great editor support, including completion and type checks everywhere.

Your users get: automatic --help, auto-completion in their terminal (Bash, Zsh, Fish, PowerShell) when they install your package or when using Typer CLI.

For a more complete example including more features, see the Tutorial - User Guide.

Typer uses Click internally. That's the only dependency.

But you can also install extras:

• colorama: and Click will automatically use it to make sure your terminal's colors always work correctly, even in Windows.
  • Then you can use any tool you want to output your terminal's colors in all the systems, including the integrated typer.style() and typer.secho() (provided by Click).
  • Or any other tool, e.g. wasabi, blessings.
• shellingham: and Typer will automatically detect the current shell when installing completion.
  • With shellingham you can just use --install-completion.
  • Without shellingham, you have to pass the name of the shell to install completion for, e.g. --install-completion bash.

You can install typer with colorama and shellingham with pip install typer[all].

Click has many plug-ins available that you can use. And there are many tools that help with command line applications that you can use as well, even if they are not related to Typer or Click.

For example:

• click-spinner: to show the user that you are loading data. A Click plug-in.
  • There are several other Click plug-ins at click-contrib that you can explore.
• tabulate: to automatically display tabular data nicely. Independent of Click or Typer.
• tqdm: a fast, extensible progress bar, alternative to Typer's own typer.progressbar().
• etc... you can re-use many of the great available tools for building CLIs.

This project is licensed under the terms of the MIT license.