Node.js Scripts — Guided Argument Input

Table of Contents

1. Overview
2. Enabling
3. Supported argparse Patterns
4. Supported parseArgs Patterns
5. Known Limitations
6. Related Settings

---

Overview

When workspaceTasks.task.guidedArgInput is enabled, running a Node.js script with Run with Args can prompt for each option individually instead of requiring a raw argument string.

The extension supports static discovery for:

• argparse (Node port of Python argparse)
• parseArgs from node:util
• parseArgs polyfill from @pkgjs/parseargs

If discovery fails (unsupported patterns, dynamic option definitions, or no known argument parser import), the extension falls back to the additional-arguments free-form prompt.

---

Enabling

In VS Code Settings (Ctrl+, / Cmd+,) search for guidedArgInput, or add to settings.json:

"workspaceTasks.task.guidedArgInput": true

---

Supported argparse Patterns

The Node resolver follows the common nodeca/argparse style:

• const { ArgumentParser } = require('argparse') or import { ArgumentParser } from 'argparse'
• parser.add_argument('-n', '--name', { ... })
• parser.add_argument(['-n', '--name'], { ... })

Supported option properties:

• type (int, float, str/string, number, bool/boolean)
• required
• default
• choices
• help
• action (store_true, store_false, append, extend, count)
• nargs (?, *, +, integer)

Actions help and version are intentionally skipped.

Example:

const { ArgumentParser } = require('argparse');

const parser = new ArgumentParser({ description: 'Node.js argparse demo' });

parser.add_argument('-n', '--name', {
  help: 'The user name',
  required: true,
});

parser.add_argument('-v', '--verbose', {
  action: 'store_true',
  help: 'Show more details',
});

const args = parser.parse_args();
console.log(args.name, args.verbose);

---

Supported parseArgs Patterns

The Node resolver also parses static parseArgs config objects from:

• const { parseArgs } = require('node:util')
• import { parseArgs } from 'node:util'
• const { parseArgs } = require('@pkgjs/parseargs')
• import { parseArgs } from '@pkgjs/parseargs'

It reads the options map and supports:

• type: 'string' | 'boolean'
• default
• multiple

Example:

const { parseArgs } = require('node:util');

const options = {
  name: { type: 'string', short: 'n', default: 'User' },
  verbose: { type: 'boolean', short: 'v' },
  tag: { type: 'string', multiple: true },
};

const { values } = parseArgs({ options, allowPositionals: true, strict: false });
console.log(values);

For multiple: true, guided input collects repeated values and assembles repeated flag pairs (--tag a --tag b).

---

Known Limitations

• Static analysis only; no execution or AST evaluation.
• Dynamically generated options (loops, helpers, computed keys) may not be detected.
• Positional-only arguments are not currently surfaced in guided prompts.
• parseArgs metadata outside the options object is ignored for guided prompts (for example allowPositionals, strict, and tokens).

When discovery misses parameters, the extension still allows manual free-form arguments.

---

Related Settings

Setting	Default	Description
workspaceTasks.task.guidedArgInput	true	Enable guided argument input for supported script types