# cbeust/jcommander

Command line parsing framework for Java

Repository: https://github.com/cbeust/jcommander
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/jcommander
Language: Java
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-04-15T10:41:36+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 67/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 77, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5895, "days_push": 140, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2022, forks 341 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:06.477742+00:00)

## What it is
JCommander is an annotation-based command line parameter parsing framework for Java. It lets developers declare CLI options with @Parameter annotations and parse argv into typed fields.

## Use cases
- parse command line arguments in a Java application
- define CLI flags and options with annotations
- handle dynamic -D style parameters
- build a CLI tool with typed options and defaults
- generate usage help for command line programs

## When to choose
- you are building a Java or JVM command line tool and want declarative, annotation-driven argument parsing
- you need support for typed options, lists, maps, and dynamic parameters
- you want a mature, widely used parsing library with a stable API

## When to avoid
- you are not on the JVM or need a non-Java solution
- you want a modern CLI framework with built-in subcommand help generation and you prefer alternatives like picocli
- you only need simple positional argument handling without a framework

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: cli, parser
- domain: developer-tools
- platform: jvm, cross-platform
- tags: command-line-parsing, annotations, argument-parsing, command-line

## Member repositories
- cbeust/jcommander (main) score 67

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:06.477742+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:00:05.805415+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/cbeust/jcommander (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:06.477742+00:00, sha a6a5ab73ed31)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.