Is it possible to have common argument for subcommands?

[gintsgints]

I want my app to be able to process next line in exact order:

application [global_options] [command] [command_options] [subcommand] <PATH>

Where PATH is common argument for all commands, like global.

[epage]

This would be done by composition. For instance, if you are using the derive API, you could define a struct for PATH and flatten it into your commands.

I generally recommend being cautious of even what is marked as global. I know in Cargo we have some we thought would be universal that turned out not to be the case.

[gintsgints]

Closest I get is, as git example. By repeating args all over the subcommands:

pub fn cli() -> Command {
    Command::new("pgweasel")
        .about("A PostgreSQL log parser")
        .version("0.1")
        .arg(arg!(--debug <DEBUG>).short('d').help("Verbose. Show debug information").action(ArgAction::SetTrue))
        .arg(arg!(--mask <MASK>).short('m').help("Postgres log timestamp mask (e.g. \"2025-05-21 12:57\" - will show all events at 12:57)"))
        .arg(arg!(--begin <BEGIN>).short('b'))
        .arg(arg!(--end <END>).short('e'))
        .subcommand_required(true)
        .subcommand(
            Command::new("error")
                .about("Show or summarize error messages")
                .args_conflicts_with_subcommands(true)
                .flatten_help(true)
                .args(error_args())
                .args(filelist_args())
                .subcommand(Command::new("top").args(error_args()).args(filelist_args()))
        )
}

fn error_args() -> Vec<Arg> {
    vec![arg!(--level <LEVEL>)]
}

fn filelist_args() -> Vec<Arg> {
    vec![arg!(<PATH> ..."Log files to analyze").value_parser(clap::value_parser!(PathBuf))]
}

But now, when I read resulting cli, I have file list all over different places.

[gintsgints]

Here - https://github.com/gintsgints/pgweasel/blob/rust-rewrite/src/cli.rs I have managed order, but help (when I do pgweasel error --help) does not flatten. Someone can explain why?

[epage]

I have managed order, but help (when I do pgweasel error --help) does not flatten. Someone can explain why?

You enable flatten_help(true) for the error subcommand so that it will flatten any subcommands into that one. If you want to flatten your subcommands into pgweasel, you need to put it on the top level Command.

From flatten_help

Flatten subcommand help into the current command’s help

Also, notice how it is used in the git stash example