How to Create a Multi-Command CLI Tool in Rust

Use the clap crate to define a Command struct with subcommands, then parse arguments in main using ArgMatches to route logic.

use clap::{Parser, Subcommand};

#[derive(Parser)]
#[command(name = "my-cli")]
struct Cli {
    #[command(subcommand)]
    command: Commands,
}

#[derive(Subcommand)]
enum Commands {
    Add { name: String },
    Remove { id: u32 },
}

fn main() {
    let cli = Cli::parse();
    match cli.command {
        Commands::Add { name } => println!("Adding: {}", name),
        Commands::Remove { id } => println!("Removing ID: {}", id),
    }
}

Add clap = { version = "4", features = ["derive"] } to your Cargo.toml dependencies.

Creating a Multi-Command CLI Tool in Rust lets you build a single program that handles multiple distinct tasks based on the user's command, like git handles add and commit. It automatically generates help text and validates inputs so you don't have to write manual parsing logic.