This is a list of CLI packages for the R language.

Please submit an issue or pull request to adjust the list. Add the package alphabetically to the relevant section.

R Argument/Option Parser Packages

Package	CRAN	Downloads	Dependencies	Coverage	Note
argparse					Python dependency
argparser
arrg
batch
command
defineOptions
docopt
getopt
GetoptLong					Perl dependency
optigrab					Archived on 2025-12-22
optparse
minimist					Archived on 2022-08-20
Rapp					Rscript alternative
rconfig
ribiosArg
scribe
W4MRUtils
Xmisc					Archived on 2022-06-13

There are a couple ways to run an R script script.R in a terminal with base R with the most popular way being Rscript:

Rscript script.R  --foo
R --file=script.R --args --foo

There are also a couple of alternative R scripting front-ends:

Rscript alternatives

Package	CRAN	Downloads	Dependencies	Coverage	Note
littler					Does not support commandArgs(trailingOnly = TRUE)
Rapp					Syntax for parsing CLI arguments/options

• When running an R script script.R with Rscript the filename will be contained in the first --file=script.R string returned by commandArgs().
• Many of the argument/option parser packages and R script front ends contain helper functions and or environmental variables to return this filename e.g. getopt::getfile() and littler's LITTLER_SCRIPT_PATH environmental variable but there exist some packages specialized in returning such filenames including from other contexts like calling a file with source():

Script Filename Packages

Package	CRAN	Downloads	Dependencies	Coverage	Note
script
scriptloc
scriptName

There are several packages to make graphics in the terminal:

Terminal Graphics Packages

Package	CRAN	Downloads	Dependencies	Coverage	Note
bittermelon
devoutansi
NostalgiR
plotcli
ppcli
rsixel
terminalgraphics
txtplot

These packages can be used to manipulate the terminal and color/style terminal output:

Terminal Manipulation/Styling Packages

Package	CRAN	Downloads	Dependencies	Coverage	Note
cli
cliapp					Superseded by cli
climenu
crayon					Superseded by cli
colt
cursr
fansi
keypress

There are several packages to display tables in the terminal:

Terminal Table Packages

Package	CRAN	Downloads	Dependencies	Coverage	Note
clitable
colorDF
emphatic
formatters
paint