---
id: click-aliases
version: "1.0.7"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# click-aliases — Add (mutiple) aliases to a click group or command

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 3.6M/mo

## What it is and what it does

click-aliases extends Click's command group system to support multiple names (aliases) for a single command. Instead of registering separate command handlers, you decorate a command with an `aliases` parameter, and ClickAliasedGroup ensures all those names invoke the same underlying function. This is useful in CLI tools where you want to accept both long, descriptive command names and short variants without duplicating code.

The package is minimal and focused: it depends only on click (the CLI framework it extends) and importlib-metadata. It works with modern Python versions (3.10 and later) and carries no known security vulnerabilities. The implementation is straightforward enough that it integrates cleanly into existing Click applications by simply changing the group class.

Use it for:

- Provide short aliases for frequently-used CLI commands (e.g., 'ls' as an alias for 'list').
- Support legacy command names while migrating to new naming conventions.
- Allow both verbose and terse forms of the same command for different user preferences.
- Create domain-specific shortcuts in a multi-command CLI tool.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Adds command aliases to Click CLI groups and commands, allowing multiple names to invoke the same command.

Yes, if you are building a Click CLI and want to support command aliases without boilerplate. The package is lightweight, actively maintained, permissively licensed, and solves a specific problem cleanly. Install it only if you actually need aliases; it adds no value to applications that don't use Click or don't require multiple command names.

## Install

pip install click-aliases
uv add click-aliases
poetry add click-aliases

## Installing click-aliases

Before you install: Low install friction with only two runtime dependencies (click and importlib-metadata). Marked active with a recent release, suggesting ongoing maintenance.

License in practice: MIT license is permissive; you can use, modify, and distribute this package with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart:

import click
from click_aliases import ClickAliasedGroup

@click.group(cls=ClickAliasedGroup)
def cli():
    pass

@cli.command(aliases=['bar', 'baz'])
def foo():
    click.echo('foo')

Requires Python 3.10 or later; requires click to be installed.

Verify before relying:

- Whether aliases work with nested subcommand groups or only top-level commands
- Performance impact when a command has many aliases
- Compatibility with Click plugins or custom command classes beyond ClickAliasedGroup

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 3.6M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

click command aliases, CLI command shortcuts, click group aliases, multiple command names, click command variants, CLI command synonyms, click alternative names, cli-utilities, click-extension

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/click-aliases) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/click-aliases/)