yargs
Command-line argument parsing for Node.js with automatic help and usage generation.
Dev workflow and config npm MIT
Used in agent projects
53
0.4% of 12,697 public repos built with AI coding agents
Rank in dev workflow and config
#33 of 88
by use in those projects
Downloads
269M
npm, last 7 days, yargs
GitHub stars
11.5K
last push Oct 8, 2026
How yargs is used
yargs is a dependency in 53 of the 12,697 public GitHub projects set up for AI coding agents that we scanned (0.4%), #33 of 88 in dev workflow and config. The most used alternative there is dotenv. Projects that use it most often also use ts-node (34.0%), TypeScript (79.2%), Prettier (43.4%).
Often used with yargs
| ts-node | 34.0% of yargs projects · 5.0× more than average |
|---|---|
| TypeScript | 79.2% of yargs projects |
| Prettier | 43.4% of yargs projects · 2.5× more than average |
| dotenv | 37.7% of yargs projects · 2.4× more than average |
| chalk | 22.6% of yargs projects · 12.9× more than average |
| Vitest | 32.1% of yargs projects · 2.6× more than average |
| tsx | 28.3% of yargs projects · 2.8× more than average |
| Babel (JavaScript) | 18.9% of yargs projects · 4.9× more than average |
By coding agent
| Claude Code | 0.5% of projects set up for it |
|---|---|
| Cursor | 0.7% of projects set up for it |
| GitHub Copilot | 0.5% of projects set up for it |
Share of public repos configured for each agent that list yargs as a dependency.
Install
| Package | npm install yargs |
|---|---|
| Main stacks | TypeScript / JavaScript (45), Rust (3), Next.js (3), PHP (1) |
| Example projects | handsontable/handsontable, Automattic/wp-calypso, apify/apify-mcp-server, getsentry/MobileBuildMCP, primer/react |
Alternatives to yargs
| Tool | Used in agent projects | Downloads / wk | GitHub stars | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| dotenv npm Load environment variables from .env files into process.env. |
2,001 (15.8%) | 189M | 20.5K | BSD-2-Clause |
| python-dotenv pypi Load environment variables from .env files in Python applications. |
828 (6.5%) | 156M | 8,898 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Husky npm Modern Git hooks manager for running tasks on git events. |
797 (6.3%) | 36.2M | 35.3K | MIT |
| lint-staged npm Run linters on git staged files to catch issues before commit. |
591 (4.7%) | 29.5M | 14.7K | MIT |
| concurrently npm Run multiple npm scripts concurrently for efficient development workflows. |
572 (4.5%) | 22.2M | 7,856 | MIT |
| cross-env npm Set environment variables across Windows, Mac and Linux in npm scripts. |
265 (2.1%) | 25.8M | 6,521 | MIT |
| Pydantic Settings pypi Settings management and configuration from environment variables using Pydantic. |
251 (2.0%) | 96.8M | 1,475 | — |
| Rich pypi Python library for rich text and beautiful formatting in terminal output. |
243 (1.9%) | 117M | 57.5K | MIT |