0003-single-command-with-subcommands.md

3. Single command with subcommands

Date: 2016-02-12

Status

Accepted

Context

The tool provides a number of related commands to create and manipulate architecture decision records.

How can the user find out about the commands that are available?

Decision

The tool defines a single command, called adr.

The first argument to adr (the subcommand) specifies the action to perform. Further arguments are interpreted by the subcommand.

Running adr without any arguments lists the available subcommands.

Subcommands are implemented as scripts in the same directory as the adr script. E.g. the subcommand new is implemented as the script adr-new, the subcommand help as the script adr-help and so on.

Helper scripts that are part of the implementation but not subcommands follow a different naming convention, so that subcommands can be listed by filtering and transforming script file names.

Consequences

Users can more easily explore the capabilities of the tool.

Users are already used to this style of command-line tool. For example, Git works this way.

Each subcommand can be implemented in the most appropriate language.