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CLI: replace docopt with click(?)

docopt CLI library used by apkg is fabulous for manual CLI design and prototyping but I've found several issues:

  • looks dead, last release 2018 :(
  • requires manual args translation (extra code)
  • lacks automation features
  • not really composable, no sub-command support (I got around that but it isn't always pretty)

Seeing that apkg core CLI has reached a fair level of consistency and stability, I think it's time to move to a more dynamic CLI framework.

After doing some research, click seems like best alternative. It even correctly describes my docopt woes in Why not Docopt etc.? docs. I've tried to create a composable lazy-loading python CLI many times and authors are obviously aware of issues this task presents.

My experiments with click have been quite satisfactory so far.