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Minor documentation fix: incorrect statement about argparse.ArgumentParser.add_argument()#145479

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savannahostrowski merged 4 commits intopython:mainfrom
jkunimune:patch-3
Mar 3, 2026
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Minor documentation fix: incorrect statement about argparse.ArgumentParser.add_argument()#145479
savannahostrowski merged 4 commits intopython:mainfrom
jkunimune:patch-3

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@jkunimune jkunimune commented Mar 3, 2026 •
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The documentation for the name or flags argument of argparse.ArgumentParser.add_argument() said

The dest parametre defaults to the argument name with underscores _ replacing hyphens - .

However, this is not true for positional arguments, which retain their hyphens. The documentation for the dest parameter correctly describes this behavior, but a user who only reads the name or flags documentation will be misled.

Thus, I added a qualification to the sentence to make clear that the hyphen relpacement only happens for optional arguments.

The dest parameter defaults to the argument name, with underscores _ replacing hyphens - if the argument is optional.

I'm hoping this change is trivial enough that I don't need to submit an issue first, but let me know if that's incorrect.

📚 Documentation preview 📚: https://cpython-previews--145479.org.readthedocs.build/

@jkunimune
fix incorrect statement in argparse docs
07327c2 
The documentation for the name or flags argument of `argparse.ArgumentParser.add_argument()` said

> By default, argparse automatically handles the internal naming and display names of arguments … The dest parametre defaults to the argument name with underscores `_` replacing hyphens `-` .

However, this is not true for positional arguments, which retain their hyphens.  The documentation for the dest parameter correctly describes this behavior, but a user who only reads the name or flags documentation will be misled.

Thus, I added a qualification to the sentence to make clear that the hyphen relpacement only happens for optional argiments.
@bedevere-app bedevere-app bot added docs Documentation in the Doc dir skip news awaiting review labels Mar 3, 2026
@github-project-automation github-project-automation bot moved this to Todo in Docs PRs Mar 3, 2026
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Good catch - just a tweak on the phrasing but LGTM! Thank you!

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bedevere-app bot commented Mar 3, 2026

A Python core developer has requested some changes be made to your pull request before we can consider merging it. If you could please address their requests along with any other requests in other reviews from core developers that would be appreciated.

Once you have made the requested changes, please leave a comment on this pull request containing the phrase I have made the requested changes; please review again. I will then notify any core developers who have left a review that you're ready for them to take another look at this pull request.

@jkunimune @savannahostrowski
adjust phrasing in argparse docs
2e7ff21 
Co-authored-by: Savannah Ostrowski <savannah@python.org>
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jkunimune commented Mar 3, 2026

I have made the requested changes; please review again.

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Thanks for making the requested changes!

@savannahostrowski: please review the changes made to this pull request.

@bedevere-app bedevere-app bot requested a review from savannahostrowski March 3, 2026 21:12
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One small comment but after that's fixed, I'll merge and backport.

@savannahostrowski savannahostrowski added needs backport to 3.13 bugs and security fixes needs backport to 3.14 bugs and security fixes labels Mar 3, 2026
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jkunimune commented Mar 3, 2026

Ah, good point. I just fixed it.

@savannahostrowski savannahostrowski enabled auto-merge (squash) March 3, 2026 21:35
@savannahostrowski savannahostrowski merged commit dc12d19 into python:main Mar 3, 2026
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@github-project-automation github-project-automation bot moved this from Todo to Done in Docs PRs Mar 3, 2026
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miss-islington-app bot commented Mar 3, 2026

Thanks @jkunimune for the PR, and @savannahostrowski for merging it 🌮🎉.. I'm working now to backport this PR to: 3.13, 3.14.
🐍🍒⛏🤖

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miss-islington-app bot commented Mar 3, 2026

Sorry, @jkunimune and @savannahostrowski, I could not cleanly backport this to 3.13 due to a conflict.
Please backport using cherry_picker on command line.

cherry_picker dc12d1999b88e84d5a6b8e491be468b73379e54b 3.13

miss-islington pushed a commit to miss-islington/cpython that referenced this pull request Mar 3, 2026
@jkunimune @savannahostrowski @miss-islington
Fix incorrect statement about argparse.ArgumentParser.add_argument() (p…
385ef93 
…ythonGH-145479)

(cherry picked from commit dc12d1999b88e84d5a6b8e491be468b73379e54b)

Co-authored-by: Justin Kunimune <justinkunimune@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Savannah Ostrowski <savannah@python.org>
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bedevere-app bot commented Mar 3, 2026

GH-145485 is a backport of this pull request to the 3.14 branch.

@bedevere-app bedevere-app bot removed the needs backport to 3.14 bugs and security fixes label Mar 3, 2026
@savannahostrowski savannahostrowski removed the needs backport to 3.13 bugs and security fixes label Mar 3, 2026
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savannahostrowski commented Mar 3, 2026

These docs were added in 3.14 so removing backport to 3.13 label.

savannahostrowski added a commit that referenced this pull request Mar 3, 2026
@miss-islington @jkunimune @savannahostrowski
[3.14] Fix incorrect statement about argparse.ArgumentParser.add_argu…
da3fea3 
…ment() (GH-145479) (#145485)

Fix incorrect statement about argparse.ArgumentParser.add_argument() (GH-145479)
(cherry picked from commit dc12d19)

Co-authored-by: Justin Kunimune <justinkunimune@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Savannah Ostrowski <savannah@python.org>
bkap123 pushed a commit to bkap123/cpython that referenced this pull request Mar 3, 2026
@jkunimune @savannahostrowski
Fix incorrect statement about argparse.ArgumentParser.add_argument() (p…
4ee5906 
…ython#145479)

Co-authored-by: Savannah Ostrowski <savannah@python.org>
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