Command Line Reference

The repver tool automates file updates and Git operations using commands defined in your configuration file.

To use the command, you must run it from the root of your repository where the .repver file is located. If you configure Git operations, this is required to be the root of the Git repository as well.

If every target file already contains the requested values, repver exits successfully as a no-op. In that case it reports that no updates are needed and skips all git operations such as branch creation, checkout, commit, and push.

Usage 

repver --command=<command_name> [--param-<name>=<value> ...] [--debug] [--dry-run] [--no-color] [--exists]

Arguments

Argument Description Required
--command=<command_name> The command to execute (as defined in your .repver file) Yes
--param-<name>=<value> Values for the named parameters (matching regex capture groups) Yes (if defined by the command)
--debug Enable detailed debug output No
--dry-run Show what would be changed without modifying files or performing git operations No
--no-color Disable colored terminal output No
--exists Check whether .repver exists and contains the specified command; exits 0 if yes, non-zero otherwise No

Parameters

Parameters provided via the --param flag must correspond to the named capture groups in your regex patterns. For example, if your regex includes (?P<version>.*), you supply:

--param-version=1.2.3

Each named capture group you define in your regex patterns will result in a required parameter.

Dry Run Mode

When you use the --dry-run flag, the tool will:

  1. Display what files would be modified, showing the specific line numbers with current and updated content
  2. Skip all git operations (creating branches, committing, pushing, etc.)
  3. Print information about the git operations that would have been performed

This is useful for verifying what changes would be made before actually applying them.

Exists Mode

The --exists flag is designed for scripting and CI workflows. It checks whether a repository has a valid .repver configuration file and whether the specified command is defined.

When you use the --exists flag:

  1. The --command flag is required
  2. All --param-* flags are ignored
  3. No file modifications are performed
  4. No Git operations are performed
  5. Output is minimal (errors only, to stderr)

Exit Codes:

Exit Code Meaning
0 .repver exists, is valid, and contains the specified command
1 .repver is missing, invalid, or the command is not found

Example:

# Check if a repository supports the 'goversion' command
if repver --command=goversion --exists; then
  echo "Repository supports goversion command"
else
  echo "Repository does not support goversion command"
fi

This mode is ideal for scripts that need to conditionally run repver across multiple repositories.

Color Output

Terminal output is colorized by default to improve readability. Diff output uses green for added lines and red for removed lines, while dry-run messages are highlighted in yellow and error labels appear in bold red.

Color can be disabled in two ways:

  • Pass the --no-color flag
  • Set the NO_COLOR environment variable (any value)
# Disable color with a flag
repver --command=goversion --param-version=1.26.0 --no-color

# Disable color with the environment variable
NO_COLOR=1 repver --command=goversion --param-version=1.26.0

The NO_COLOR convention follows the no-color.org standard.