Command-Line Auto-Completion¶

STRUCT provides intelligent auto-completion for commands, options, and structure names using static completion scripts generated by shtab. This approach is reliable across shells and doesn’t require runtime hooks or markers.

Structure Name Completion

STRUCT completes structure names when using struct generate, showing available structures from both built-in and custom paths.

Quick Setup¶

Ask struct to print the exact commands for your shell:

# Auto-detect current shell and print install steps
struct completion install

# Or specify explicitly
struct completion install zsh
struct completion install bash
struct completion install fish

You can also generate completion files manually with shtab as shown below.

Manual Installation¶

1) Install shtab¶

pip install shtab

2) Generate and install completion for your shell¶

Zsh

mkdir -p ~/.zfunc
struct --print-completion zsh > ~/.zfunc/_struct
# ensure in ~/.zshrc
fpath=(~/.zfunc $fpath)
autoload -U compinit && compinit
exec zsh

Bash

mkdir -p ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions
struct --print-completion bash > ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/struct
source ~/.bashrc

Fish

mkdir -p ~/.config/fish/completions
struct --print-completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/struct.fish
fish -c 'source ~/.config/fish/completions/struct.fish'

Usage¶

After installing the completion, use Tab to complete commands/options:

Command Completion¶

struct <Tab>
# Shows: generate, generate-schema, validate, info, list

Structure Name Completion ✨¶

# Complete structure names - shows all available structures!
struct generate <Tab>
# Shows: ansible-playbook, docker-files, github/workflows/codeql, project/nodejs, etc.

# Partial completion works too
struct generate git<Tab>
# Shows: git-hooks, github/workflows/codeql, github/templates, etc.

# Works with nested structures
struct generate github/<Tab>
# Shows: github/workflows/codeql, github/templates, github/prompts/generic, etc.

Custom Structure Paths¶

# Completion works with custom structure paths
struct generate --structures-path /custom/path <Tab>
# Shows structures from both custom path and built-in structures

Option Completion¶

struct generate --<Tab>
# Shows: --log, --dry-run, --backup, --file-strategy, --structures-path, etc.

struct generate --log <Tab>
# Shows: DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR, CRITICAL

Advanced Configuration¶

Per-Project Completion¶

If you only want completion for a specific project/venv, generate the completion from the project’s venv and place it under your user completion directory (examples above). No runtime eval is needed.

Custom Completion¶

You can create custom completion functions for specific use cases:

# Custom completion for structure names
_struct_structures() {
    local structures=$(struct list --names-only 2>/dev/null)
    COMPREPLY=($(compgen -W "$structures" -- "${COMP_WORDS[COMP_CWORD]}"))
}

# Register custom completion
complete -F _struct_structures struct-generate

Troubleshooting¶

Completion Not Working¶

Verify shtab is installed in the environment you’re using:

python -c "import shtab; print('OK')"

Confirm the completion file exists in the expected location and is readable.
Ensure your shell is configured to load completions:
zsh: fpath includes ~/.zfunc and compinit is run.
bash: bash-completion is installed and sourced (on some distros).
fish: the file is in ~/.config/fish/completions/.
Restart your shell (or run exec zsh/source ~/.bashrc).

Debug Completion¶

For shell-specific debugging, check that the generated file contains the struct completion function and is in the correct directory for your shell.

Platform-Specific Notes¶

macOS¶

On macOS, you may need to install bash-completion (for bash) or ensure zsh’s compinit is configured:

# Using Homebrew
brew install bash-completion
# bash profile
[[ -r "/usr/local/etc/profile.d/bash_completion.sh" ]] && . "/usr/local/etc/profile.d/bash_completion.sh"

Windows¶

For Windows users using Git Bash or WSL, follow the same steps as Linux. PowerShell is not covered by shtab; use bash/zsh/fish.

Docker¶

When running STRUCT in Docker, completion won't work directly. However, you can create a wrapper script:

#!/bin/bash
# struct-wrapper.sh
docker run --rm -v $(pwd):/workdir ghcr.io/httpdss/struct:main "$@"

Then set up completion for the wrapper:

eval "$(register-python-argcomplete struct-wrapper.sh)"

Benefits of Auto-Completion¶

Faster typing: Quickly complete command names and options
Discoverability: See available commands and options
Accuracy: Reduce typos and errors
Productivity: Spend less time looking up command syntax

Supported Completions¶

STRUCT provides intelligent completion for:

Commands: generate, validate, list, info, generate-schema
Options: --log, --dry-run, --backup, --file-strategy, --structures-path, etc.
Structure names: All 47+ available built-in and custom structures
Built-in structures: ansible-playbook, docker-files, helm-chart, etc.
Nested structures: github/workflows/codeql, project/nodejs, terraform/apps/generic, etc.
Custom structures: From --structures-path directories
File paths: Local files and directories
Enum values: Log levels (DEBUG, INFO, etc.), file strategies (overwrite, skip, etc.)

How Structure Completion Works¶

The structure name completion feature:

Dynamically discovers all available structure files (.yaml files)
Scans multiple locations:
Built-in structures in struct_module/contribs/
Custom structures from --structures-path if specified
Returns clean names without .yaml extensions
Supports nested directories like github/workflows/codeql
Updates automatically when new structures are added

Example Session¶

# Command completion
$ struct <Tab>
generate        generate-schema info           list           validate

# Structure name completion (NEW!)
$ struct generate <Tab>
ansible-playbook     configs/codeowners    github/workflows/codeql  project/nodejs
chef-cookbook        docker-files          helm-chart               terraform/apps/generic
ci-cd-pipelines      git-hooks            kubernetes-manifests      vagrant-files

# Partial completion
$ struct generate proj<Tab>
project/custom-structures  project/go      project/nodejs  project/ruby
project/generic           project/java    project/python  project/rust

# Nested structure completion
$ struct generate github/<Tab>
github/chatmodes/plan       github/prompts/react-form    github/workflows/codeql
github/instructions/generic github/prompts/security-api  github/workflows/labeler
github/prompts/generic      github/workflows/pre-commit  github/workflows/stale

# Option completion
$ struct generate --<Tab>
--backup        --dry-run       --file-strategy --log
--log-file      --mappings-file --structures-path --vars

# Enum value completion
$ struct generate --log <Tab>
DEBUG    ERROR    INFO     WARNING  CRITICAL

$ struct generate --file-strategy <Tab>
append    backup    overwrite    rename    skip

This makes working with STRUCT much more efficient and user-friendly!