---
id: shtab
version: "1.10.0"
license: MPL-2.0
license_treatment: copyleft
maintenance: active
---

# shtab — Automagic shell tab completion for Python CLI applications

License: copyleft · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 4.6M/mo

## What it is and what it does

shtab generates static shell completion scripts for Python CLI applications that use argparse. Instead of executing your application every time a user presses tab (which is slow and can have side effects), shtab analyzes your ArgumentParser once and outputs a completion script that your shell can source. It supports bash, zsh, fish, and tcsh, and handles argument choices, file/directory paths, and dynamic shell commands.

You integrate shtab into your CLI in two ways: as a library (add a few lines to your app to expose a --print-completion flag), or as a standalone CLI tool that inspects an external parser object. The package has no runtime dependencies and is actively maintained with support for Python 3.9 through 3.14.

Use it for:

- Add bash/zsh completion to an existing argparse CLI with minimal code changes
- Generate completion scripts for distribution with your application package
- Support multiple shells (bash, zsh, fish, tcsh) from a single argparse definition
- Enable dynamic completions (e.g., git branch names) without re-executing the CLI on every tab press
- Provide completion for subcommands and nested argument groups automatically

## Worth the install?

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

Generates shell tab completion scripts for Python CLI applications built with argparse, supporting bash, zsh, fish, and tcsh without runtime overhead.

Yes. shtab is production-stable, actively maintained, has zero security vulnerabilities, and solves a real problem (shell completion) with zero runtime overhead. The copyleft license is not a barrier for using it as a library in your own CLI. Install it if you build Python command-line tools and want to offer your users fast, reliable shell completion.

## Install

pip install shtab
uv add shtab
poetry add shtab

## Installing shtab

Before you install: Low friction: pure Python wheel with no runtime dependencies. Active maintenance with a release 7 days ago and 461 repository stars.

License in practice: MPL-2.0 (copyleft): you must disclose source modifications and distribute under the same license if you modify and redistribute shtab itself, but using it as a library in your own CLI does not impose restrictions on your application's license.

Quickstart:

pip install shtab

import argparse
from shtab import add_argument_to_parser

parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
add_argument_to_parser(parser)
# End-users then run: your_app --print-completion bash | source

Requires Python 3.9 or later; shell completion installation is a separate end-user step (not automatic).

Verify before relying:

- Whether dynamic shell commands (e.g., git branch completion) work reliably across all supported shells
- Performance characteristics when handling very large choice sets or deeply nested subcommands

## Package facts

- License: MPL-2.0 (copyleft)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 4.6M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

shell tab completion generator, argparse bash completion, cli autocomplete script, zsh fish bash completion, python command line completion, shell completion for argparse, cli-tooling, shell-integration

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