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.