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Incorrect interaction between argparse nargs='*' and choices #92445

@rhettinger

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@rhettinger

In the code below, it is valid to supply no arguments.

from argparse import ArgumentParser p = ArgumentParser() p.add_argument('dessert', nargs='*', choices=('cake', 'pie')) p.parse_args([]) 

However, the following error is generated:

usage: tmp5.py [-h] [{cake,pie} ...] tmp5.py: error: argument dessert: invalid choice: [] (choose from 'cake', 'pie') 

What is happening is that the empty list is being treated a value rather than a collection of values.

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    3.10only security fixes3.11only security fixes3.12only security fixes3.9only security fixeseasystdlibStandard Library Python modules in the Lib/ directorytype-bugAn unexpected behavior, bug, or error

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