GO cobra: space separated values in StringArray flags

Question

In GO's Cobra, lib for making CLIs, there are two input flags accepting multiple values being passed. One of the options is StringArray , when used as follows:

--flag=value1 --flag=value2

it yields an array ["value1", "value2"] . I am working on a drop-in replacement for a tool that expects somewhat more complex input:

--flag=valueA1 valueB1 --flag=valueA2 valueB2

the array it should yield would be ["valueA1 valueB1", "valueA2 valueB2"]

is there a way in cobra to parse the entire string until the next flag and include it in StringArray value like above?

Answer 1

There isn't a built-in way in cobra to do this, as there will be ambiguity. For example, in the case when there is also a sub-command named valueB1 or valueB2 , it's not clear whether those should be executed as subcommands or interpreted as additional argument to --flag .

The standard way to support an input like this is to expect the the input values are quoted, and cobra supports that. Eg:

--flag="valueA1 valueB1" --flag="valueA2 valueB2"