Pull argparse configuration out of a CLI tool and write it as Markdown.

Great for embedded in a README.md with cog.

Usage

Possible invocation options:

# entrypoint command, dotted module
uv tool run argparse-help-markdown -m tests.data.example

# script, script
argparse_help_markdown.py --write.md script.py

# import, function
from argparse_help_markdown import run_script
run_script("mytool.py", include_usage=True)

What it does

It writes this table about itself:

usage: argparse_help_markdown.py script.py

Options	Values	Help
positional arguments
filename	Optional.	Path to the subject script.
options
-h --help	Flag.	show this help message and exit
--usage	Flag.	Emit the terse usage info in triple-ticks. Excluded by default.
--write	Optional.	Write to named file instead of stdout.
-m --module	Optional.	Run as module.

Installation, or not

This is built as a single-file that can be installed as a package or used standalone. It can be imported as a module or run on the command-line. It's mostly useful inside a documentation CICD pipeline, where flexability is key. No dependencies outside of standard library.

With uv: uv tool run argparse-help-markdown

With pipx: pipx run argparse-help-markdown

Or install with pip: pip install argparse-help-markdown

Or grab a locked version with curl: curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ellieayla/argparse-help-markdown/a35c9ea9cd975575adb45a4cbbf3d140adf04269/src/argparse_help_markdown.py; python3 argparse_help_markdown.py