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Incorrect information in add_subparser() docs. #95377
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When setting the flag required=true for the function ArgumentParser.add_subparsers() the setting dest=" some description" also needs to be set or the parser throws an unhelpful error when the user fails to select a subparser.
This is not covered in the documentation.
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MonadChains commentedon Jul 28, 2022
I agree. The documentation is not fully clear, and adding a line to clarify it could be beneficial, especially given the complexity of the module.
pythongh-95377: Removed unnessecary line in argpase.rst
StanFromIreland commentedon Aug 20, 2026
CC @savannahostrowski
savannahostrowski commentedon Aug 21, 2026
It’s unclear which Python version this was originally reported against. The underlying problem was fixed in #3680 and backported to Python 3.9 and 3.10. When no subparser is selected, argparse tells the user that one is required:
error: the following arguments are required: {foo,bar}It does not reproduce on any branch in the current support window so I think this can be closed.