rich-argparse

Rich help formatters for argparse and optparse

rich-argparse Permissive license MIT Active ★ 207 v1.8.0 released 2026-05-01

Install

rich-argparse on PyPI

pip

pip install rich-argparse

uv

uv add rich-argparse

poetry

poetry add rich-argparse

Package facts

License	MIT (permissive)
Python support	supports the current Python release (>=3.9)
Install friction	low — pure-Python wheel
Runtime dependencies	1 — rich
Maintenance	actively maintained — 104 days since the last release
Last repo commit	2026-07-10
First released	2022-09-03
Popularity	one of the top 1,000 most-downloaded packages on PyPI (30-day window, as of 2026-08-13)
Known vulnerabilities	none known (OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-13)

Evidence: rich_argparse-1.8.0-py3-none-any.whl

Keywords: argparse, help-formatter, optparse, rich

Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableEnvironment :: ConsoleIntended Audience :: DevelopersOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Topic :: Software Development :: User Interfaces

About rich-argparse

from the package's own PyPI description — quoted content, verbatim

rich-argparse

python -m rich_argparse (image)

tests (image) pre-commit.ci status (image) Downloads (image) Python Version (image) Release (image)

Format argparse and optparse help using rich.

rich-argparse improves the look and readability of argparse's help while requiring minimal changes to the code.

Installation
Usage
Output styles
Customizing colors
Group name formatting
[Special text...

Read as markdown · JSON record · Source repository · Homepage · Docs

AI interpretation — verify before relying

AI-generated interpretation of the package facts above; every digit, version, license, or vulnerability id it cites is grounded in the facts already shown on this page

Formats argparse and optparse help output with rich styling, colors, and improved readability while requiring minimal code changes to existing argument parsers.

Minimal install friction: pure Python wheel with only rich as a runtime dependency. Active maintenance with a recent release (104 days ago) and steady repository activity.

MIT license permits unrestricted use, modification, and distribution in both open-source and proprietary projects with only attribution required.

Usage

pip install rich-argparse

import argparse
from rich_argparse import RichHelpFormatter

parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(formatter_class=RichHelpFormatter)
parser.add_argument('--name', help='Your name')
args = parser.parse_args()

Verdict: Production-ready package (stable status, no known vulnerabilities) that enhances argparse help output with minimal overhead. Single lightweight dependency on rich, active maintenance, and permissive MIT license make it a low-risk addition to CLI projects.

Needs verification

Whether the package's console markup feature (enabled by default) may conflict with existing help text containing square brackets in production codebases
Performance impact when rendering help for parsers with very large numbers of arguments or complex rich renderables

argparse help formattercolored cli help textrich terminal output formattingpython argument parser stylingcli help text beautifierargparse color customizationterminal ui for command line