Command Help

attention

The Help API is EXPERIMENTAL, meaning that its not fully stable yet and may undergo breaking changes in the future.

The new Help API makes it super easy to show help for your commands. It’s built from just a few simple building blocks:

The 3 Main Parts

1. HelpQuery – What the user is asking for (like “show me help for this command”).
2. HelpEntry – Each piece of help info (like a command, subcommand, or usage).
3. HelpRenderer – How the help is shown (as a list, a tree, etc.).

When a user asks for help, here’s what happens:

• You make a HelpQuery (you can filter what the user is allowed to see).
• The system finds matching HelpEntry items.
• The entries are shown using a HelpRenderer (with your chosen layout and theme).

There are two layouts you can use out of the box:

• List – Shows commands in a simple list.
• Tree – Shows commands in a tree with branches.

All of this is managed by the CommandHelp<YourSource> object, which you get automatically in your command method.

---

The Easiest Example

Here’s how you use the new Help API in your command:

@Command("example")
public final class ExampleCommand {

    @Usage
    public void defaultUsage(YourSource source, @ContextResolved CommandHelp<YourSource> commandHelp) {
        // Show help when user runs '/example'
        commandHelp.display(
            HelpQuery.<YourSource>builder()
                .filter(HelpFilters.hasPermission(source, commandHelp)) // Only show what the user can use
                .build(),

            HelpRenderOptions.<YourSource>builder()
                .layout(HelpRenderOptions.Layout.LIST) // Show as a list
                .theme(HelpTheme.defaultTheme())       // Use the default look
        );
    }
}

That’s it!
You don’t need to set up anything else for basic help.

---

Customizing (Optional)

If you want to change how help looks or works, you can make your own layout, transformer, or renderer.
For example, in Bukkit:

BukkitImperat.builder(plugin)
    .helpCoordinator(
        HelpCoordinator.create((layoutManager) -> {
            layoutManager.registerPipeline(layout, transformer, renderer);
        })
    )
    .build();

But for most people, the default is enough!

---

TL;DR

• HelpQuery = what help to show
• HelpEntry = each help item
• HelpRenderer = how it looks
• Use CommandHelp.display() in your command to show help
• Defaults are good, but you can customize if you want