urfave-cli/docs/v1/examples/bash-completions.md

---
tags:
  - v1
---

You can enable completion commands by setting the `EnableBashCompletion`
flag on the `App` object.  By default, this setting will only auto-complete to
show an app's subcommands, but you can write your own completion methods for
the App or its subcommands.

<!-- {
  "args": ["complete", "&#45;&#45;generate&#45;bash&#45;completion"],
  "output": "laundry"
} -->
``` go
package main

import (
  "fmt"
  "log"
  "os"

  "github.com/urfave/cli"
)

func main() {
  tasks := []string{"cook", "clean", "laundry", "eat", "sleep", "code"}

  app := cli.NewApp()
  app.EnableBashCompletion = true
  app.Commands = []cli.Command{
    {
      Name:  "complete",
      Aliases: []string{"c"},
      Usage: "complete a task on the list",
      Action: func(c *cli.Context) error {
         fmt.Println("completed task: ", c.Args().First())
         return nil
      },
      BashComplete: func(c *cli.Context) {
        // This will complete if no args are passed
        if c.NArg() > 0 {
          return
        }
        for _, t := range tasks {
          fmt.Println(t)
        }
      },
    },
  }

  err := app.Run(os.Args)
  if err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
  }
}
```

#### Enabling

Source the `autocomplete/bash_autocomplete` file in your `.bashrc` file while
setting the `PROG` variable to the name of your program:

`PROG=myprogram source /.../cli/autocomplete/bash_autocomplete`

#### Distribution

Copy `autocomplete/bash_autocomplete` into `/etc/bash_completion.d/` and rename
it to the name of the program you wish to add autocomplete support for (or
automatically install it there if you are distributing a package). Don't forget
to source the file to make it active in the current shell.

```
sudo cp src/bash_autocomplete /etc/bash_completion.d/<myprogram>
source /etc/bash_completion.d/<myprogram>
```

Alternatively, you can just document that users should source the generic
`autocomplete/bash_autocomplete` in their bash configuration with `$PROG` set
to the name of their program (as above).

#### Customization

The default bash completion flag (`--generate-bash-completion`) is defined as
`cli.BashCompletionFlag`, and may be redefined if desired, e.g.:

<!-- {
  "args": ["&#45;&#45;compgen"],
  "output": "wat\nhelp\nh"
} -->
``` go
package main

import (
  "log"
  "os"

  "github.com/urfave/cli"
)

func main() {
  cli.BashCompletionFlag = cli.BoolFlag{
    Name:   "compgen",
    Hidden: true,
  }

  app := cli.NewApp()
  app.EnableBashCompletion = true
  app.Commands = []cli.Command{
    {
      Name: "wat",
    },
  }
  err := app.Run(os.Args)
  if err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
  }
}
```