Sentinel is getting too crowded with flags; maybe it’s time to introduce subcommands:

[v0lkan]

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"os"

	"github.com/akamensky/argparse"
)

func main() {
	parser := argparse.NewParser("program", "A program")

	if len(os.Args) <= 1 {
		fmt.Printf("No command provided. Exiting.\n")
		os.Exit(1)
	}

	switch os.Args[1] {
	case "command1":
		// Define arguments
		arg1 := parser.String("a", "argument", &argparse.Options{Required: false, Help: "Argument for command1"})

		// Parse
		err := parser.Parse(os.Args[2:])
		if err != nil {
			fmt.Print(parser.Usage(err))
		}

		// Use your arguments
		fmt.Printf("command1, arg1: %s\n", *arg1)
	case "command2":
		// Similar to command1 but with different args
	default:
		fmt.Printf("Unknown command: %s\n", os.Args[1])
		os.Exit(1)
	}
}

[v0lkan]

But, that will also remove the ability to auto-generate help text, so we may need to manually wire that in:

	case "command1":
		arg1 := parser.String("a", "argument", &argparse.Options{Required: false, Help: "Argument for command1"})
		err := parser.Parse(os.Args[2:])
		if err != nil {
			fmt.Print(parser.Usage(err))
		}
		fmt.Printf("command1, arg1: %s\n", *arg1)

		// manually check for help flag
		for _, arg := range os.Args[2:] {
			if arg == "-h" || arg == "--help" {
				fmt.Println("Help for command1: [detailed explanation]")
			}
		}

Or alternatively we can use something like https://cobra.dev, but that would require a larger rewrite.

I’d rather keep things simple and “feeel the pain” for a while.

If this effort turn into an uphill battle, there’s always an option to switch the libary.

argparse is lightweight and simpler, which also means less dependencies and more security.