---
id: click-default-group
version: "1.2.4"
license: unclear
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: dormant
---

# click-default-group — click_default_group

License: permissive · Maintenance: dormant · Downloads: 8.1M/mo

## What it is and what it does

click-default-group is a small extension to Click that changes how command groups behave when invoked without a subcommand. Normally, Click shows a help message; this package lets you designate a default subcommand to run instead. You define the default by passing `default='subcommand_name'` and optionally `default_if_no_args=True` to the `@click.group()` decorator, and the specified subcommand executes automatically when the CLI is called with no arguments.

The package depends only on click and installs with low friction. It is marked Production/Stable and has no known security vulnerabilities. Maintenance is dormant (last release August 2023), but the codebase remains archived and the repository shows recent activity. It supports Python 2.7 and Python 3.5 through 3.11, as well as PyPy.

Use it for:

- Build a CLI tool where running the command with no arguments triggers a sensible default action instead of showing help.
- Create a command-line interface where one subcommand is so frequently used that users expect it to run implicitly.
- Simplify user experience for single-purpose CLI wrappers that have optional alternate subcommands but a clear primary workflow.
- Extend existing Click applications to support a fallback behavior without rewriting the group logic.

## Worth the install?

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

Extends Click's Group class to invoke a default subcommand when no subcommand is explicitly passed, instead of showing the help message.

Yes, if you use Click and want a default subcommand behavior. The package is lightweight, stable, and dependency-light. Dormant maintenance is a minor concern only if you anticipate needing updates for future Click versions; for current Click releases, it works as documented with no known issues.

## Install

pip install click-default-group
uv add click-default-group
poetry add click-default-group

## Installing click-default-group

Before you install: Low install friction with a single dependency on click. Maintenance is dormant (last release 2023-08-04, last commit 2024-09-03), but the package is marked Production/Stable and has no known vulnerabilities.

License in practice: Distributed under permissive licensing (BSD 3-Clause per description), allowing commercial and private use with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart:

pip install click-default-group

import click
from click_default_group import DefaultGroup

@click.group(cls=DefaultGroup, default='foo', default_if_no_args=True)
def cli():
    pass

@cli.command()
def foo():
    click.echo('foo')

cli()

Verify before relying:

- Whether dormant maintenance status poses a risk for future Click API changes or Python version incompatibilities beyond those already declared.
- Real-world compatibility with Click versions beyond 7.0, given the last release was in 2023.

## Package facts

- License: not declared (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: dormant
- Downloads: 8.1M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

click default subcommand, click group default command, cli default behavior, click without subcommand, click implicit command, default click group, click command fallback, click-extension, cli-defaults

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