cli-meow-help

4.0.0 verified Sat Apr 25 auth: no javascript

Generates automatically formatted help text for meow-based CLI applications. v4.0.0 is the current stable release, with moderate release cadence. Key differentiators: it provides a simple declarative API to generate help text by specifying commands, flags, examples, and optional header/footer, avoiding manual formatting. It integrates tightly with meow and requires meow as a peer dependency.

Common errors

error ERR_REQUIRE_ESM ↓

cause Using require() to import an ESM-only package in v4.0.0.

fix

Replace const meowHelp = require('cli-meow-help') with import meowHelp from 'cli-meow-help'

error Cannot find module 'meow' ↓

cause meow is not installed as a dependency.

fix

Run: npm install meow

error The 'defaults' option is no longer supported. Please remove it. ↓

cause Using the deprecated 'defaults' option from v3 or earlier in v4.

fix

Remove the 'defaults' key from the options object passed to meowHelp().

Warnings

breaking ESM-only since v4.0.0 – CommonJS require() will throw ERR_REQUIRE_ESM. ↓

fix Switch to import statement: import meowHelp from 'cli-meow-help'

deprecated The 'defaults' option (boolean) was deprecated in v3.0.0 and removed in v4.0.0. ↓

fix Remove the 'defaults' option from meowHelp() call.

deprecated The 'desc' option (string) is optional in v4.0.0; previously it was required. ↓

fix Omit 'desc' if not needed, or pass as string.

gotcha Package requires meow as a peer dependency. Forgetting to install meow leads to import error. ↓

fix Run: npm install meow

Install

npm install cli-meow-help

yarn add cli-meow-help

pnpm add cli-meow-help

Imports

meowHelp

wrong

const meowHelp = require('cli-meow-help')

correct

import meowHelp from 'cli-meow-help'

Package is ESM-only from v4.0.0. CommonJS require() will fail.

default
wrong
```
const { meowHelp } = require('cli-meow-help')
```
correct
```
import meowHelp from 'cli-meow-help'
```
The package exports a single default function. Named destructure does not work.
type
```
import type { HelpOptions } from 'cli-meow-help'
```
TypeScript types are bundled. Use import type for type-only imports.

Quickstart

Demonstrates basic usage of cli-meow-help with meow: defines commands and flags, generates help text, and passes it to meow().

import meow from 'meow';
import meowHelp from 'cli-meow-help';

const commands = {
  new: { desc: 'Creates a new user account' },
  duplicate: { desc: 'Duplicates a user account' }
};

const flags = {
  random: { desc: 'Prints random data', type: 'boolean', default: true }
};

const helpText = meowHelp({
  name: 'cli-command',
  flags,
  commands
});

meow(helpText, { flags });

// Run `node cli.js --help` to see the auto-formatted help text.