Custom Command Name¶

By default, the command names are generated from the function name.

So, if your function is something like:

def create(username: str):
    ...

Then the command name will be create.

But if you already had a function called create() somewhere in your code, you would have to name your CLI function differently.

And what if you wanted the command to still be named create?

For this, you can set the name of the command in the first parameter for the @app.command() decorator:

Python 3.8+

import typer

app = typer.Typer()


@app.command("create")
def cli_create_user(username: str):
    print(f"Creating user: {username}")


@app.command("delete")
def cli_delete_user(username: str):
    print(f"Deleting user: {username}")


if __name__ == "__main__":
    app()

Now, even though the functions are named cli_create_user() and cli_delete_user(), the commands will still be named create and delete:

$ 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:
  create
  delete

// Test it
$ python main.py create Camila

Creating user: Camila

Note that any underscores in the function name will be replaced with dashes.

So if your function is something like:

def create_user(username: str):
    ...

Then the command name will be create-user.

Command Aliases¶

You can define aliases for commands so users can call them with different names.

Positional Aliases¶

Pass additional positional arguments to @app.command():

Python 3.8+

import typer

app = typer.Typer()


@app.command("list", "ls")
def list_items():
    print("Listing items")


@app.command("remove", aliases=["rm", "delete"])
def remove_items():
    print("Removing items")


if __name__ == "__main__":
    app()

The list command can be called with list or ls:

$ 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:
  list, ls
  remove, rm, delete

$ python main.py list

Listing items

$ python main.py ls

Listing items

$ python main.py remove

Removing items

$ python main.py rm

Removing items

$ python main.py delete

Removing items

Keyword Aliases¶

Use the aliases parameter:

Python 3.8+

import typer

app = typer.Typer()


@app.command("list", "ls")
def list_items():
    print("Listing items")


@app.command("remove", aliases=["rm", "delete"])
def remove_items():
    print("Removing items")


if __name__ == "__main__":
    app()

Positional aliases and the aliases parameter can be combined.

Hidden Aliases¶

Use hidden_aliases for aliases that work but don't appear in help:

Python 3.8+

import typer

app = typer.Typer()


@app.command("list", "ls", hidden_aliases=["secretlist"])
def list_items():
    print("Listing items")


@app.command("remove")
def remove_items():
    print("Removing items")


if __name__ == "__main__":
    app()

$ 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:
  list, ls
  remove

$ python main.py secretlist

Listing items