Extract argparse information

argparse_to_dict.py

import argparse
import json

def get_argparse_spec_as_dict(parser):
    """
    Gets the argparse spec as a dictionary.
    
    This makes transformations on the argument parser a little
    easier.
    """
    arguments = []
    for action in parser._actions:
        argument = {}
        for key, value in vars(action).items():
            if key == 'option_strings':
                argument[key] = list(map(str, value))
                continue
            if isinstance(value, (str, int)) or value is None:
                # These are all normal, jsonify-able values.
                argument[key] = value
                continue
            if key == 'container':
                # This is an ArgumentGroup object that we don't
                # really need to 'export'
                continue
            # NOTE: This clause really only applies to the type. You
            # could optionally keep this as a function, to use later.
            # This is stringified to support JSONifying.
            argument[key] = str(value)
        arguments.append(argument)
    return {'arguments': arguments}


# Normal parser definition. Note that we don't have to call parse_args
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
parser.add_argument('--foo', type=int, help='an integer argument')
parser.add_argument('--bar', type=str, help='a string argument')

# Get the argparse spec as JSON and print it.
spec = get_argparse_spec_as_dict(parser)
print(json.dumps(spec, indent=4))