Skip to main content

Topic-Specific CLI Help

· 2 min read
Erik Osterman
Erik Osterman
Founder @ Cloud Posse

Atmos help showed too much at once. A simple command like atmos terraform plan --help explained the command, its examples, its own flags, compatibility flags, and every inherited global flag, which made the options you actually needed harder to find.

Topic-specific help fixes that by making default help focused, while keeping usage examples, command flags, and the full reference one flag away.

What Changed​

Default --help now shows the command description, usage, examples, subcommands, and flags for that command. Atmos no longer dumps every inherited global flag by default, so command-specific options stay visible.

When you need a narrower or broader view, use a help topic:

atmos terraform plan --help=usage
atmos terraform plan --help=flags
atmos terraform plan --help=all

--help=usage shows just usage and examples. --help=flags shows command-specific flags, plus compatibility flags when Atmos forwards options to a native tool. --help=all restores the full reference view, including global flags.

Every default help page includes a short reminder:

Use --help=usage for examples or --help=all for all flags and full help.

Why It Matters​

  • Less noise by default. Atmos still exposes global flags, but they no longer bury the flags that actually change the command you are reading about.
  • Examples are one command away. Atmos already maintains usage snippets in markdown help files, and those snippets now have their own focused view.
  • Full reference stays available. --help=all keeps the exhaustive output available for scripting, documentation, and deep inspection.

Try It​

Compare the focused and full views:

atmos terraform plan --help
atmos terraform plan --help=all

Use --help=usage when you only need examples, and --help=flags when you are checking command-specific options.