RunCommands

A simple command runner that uses argparse from the Python standard library under the hood. Runs on Python 3 only (3.9 and up). Uses annotations to configure options.

There are two basic use cases:

1. Standalone console scripts (including scripts with subcommands).
2. Collections of commands (similar to make, Fabric, etc).

Building on these, especially #2, there are a couple of more advanced use cases:

1. A simple orchestration/deployment tool. If you have a simple build process and just need to rsync some files to a server, a few simple commands might be all you need.
2. A wrapper for more sophisticated orchestration/deployment tools--an alternative to the Bash scripts you might use to drive Ansible playbooks and the like.

Basic Usage

Define a command:

from runcommands import arg, command
from runcommands.commands import local

@command
def test(*tests: arg(help='Specific tests to run (instead of using discovery)')):
    if tests:
        local(('python', '-m', 'unittest', tests))
    else:
        local('python -m unittest discover .')

Show its help:

> run test -h
test [-h] [TESTS [TESTS ...]]

positional arguments:
  TESTS       Specific tests to run (instead of using discovery)

optional arguments:
  -h, --help  show this help message and exit

Run it:

> run test
..........
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 0 tests in 0.000s

OK

Create a standalone console script using a standard setuptools entry point:

# pyproject.toml
[project.scripts]
my-test-script = "package.module:test.console_script"

Reinstall the package to install the script and then run it:

> my-test-script
..........
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 0 tests in 0.000s

OK

See the main documentation for more information on installation, defining & running commands, configuration, etc.

Features

• Easily create standalone console scripts: simply define a function and wrap it with the @command decorator.
• Easily create standalone console scripts that have subcommands (a la git).
• Create collections of commands (similar to make, Fabric, etc).
• Run multiple commands in sequence: run build deploy.
• Uses argparse under the hood so command line usage is familiar.
• Provides built-in help/usage for all commands via argparse.
• Provides command line completion (including example scripts for bash and fish).

Documentation

Detailed documentation is on Read the Docs.

License

MIT. See the LICENSE file in the source distribution.

TODO

• Improve command line completion
• Add more documentation and examples
• Add more tests (current coverage is 45%)