[READ-ONLY] Mirror of https://github.com/bombshell-dev/tab. shell autocompletions for javascript CLIs
docs: clarify package manager completions delegate to local CLIs (#134)
authored by
Theo Ephraim
and committed by
GitHub
(Jun 19, 2026, 7:16 PM +0330)
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README.md
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README.md
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# Shows: true, false
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```
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### Completing locally-installed CLIs
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Package manager completion does more than complete the package manager's own flags — it also **delegates to CLIs installed as local project dependencies**. If a CLI implements tab's completion protocol (directly or via a [framework adapter](#framework-adapters)), it becomes completable through your package manager _without_ being on your `PATH` and without installing its completion script separately:
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```bash
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pnpm exec my-cli <TAB> # completes my-cli's subcommands and flags
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pnpm dlx my-cli <TAB>
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pnpm my-cli <TAB> # the bare form works too
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```
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Under the hood, tab strips the package-manager wrapper (`exec`, `x`, `run`, `dlx`), detects whether the target CLI supports completion, and forwards the request to it — falling back to running the CLI _through_ the package manager (e.g. `pnpm my-cli complete -- …`) so locally-installed binaries resolve. The same works for `npm exec`, `yarn`, and `bun x`.
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> **Note:** Completion is registered against the package-manager binary (`npm`, `pnpm`, `yarn`, `bun`). `npx` and `bunx` are separate commands with no completion of their own, so `npx my-cli <TAB>` / `bunx my-cli <TAB>` won't complete — use `npm exec my-cli` / `bun x my-cli` instead.
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## Framework Adapters
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tab provides adapters for popular JavaScript CLI frameworks.