["python","argparse"]
How to insert newlines on argparse help text?

I'm using argparse in Python 2.7 for parsing input options. One of my options is a multiple choice. I want to make a list in its help text, e.g. from argparse import ArgumentParser parser = ArgumentParser(description='test') parser.add_argument('-g', choices=['a', 'b', 'g', 'd', 'e'], default='a', help="Some option, where\n" " a = alpha\n" " b = beta\n" " g = gamma\n" " d = delta\n" " e = epsilon") parser.parse_args() However, argparse strips all newlines and consecutive spaces. The result looks like ~/Downloads:52$ python2.7 x.py -h usage: x.py [-h] [-g {a,b,g,d,e}] test optional arguments: -h, --help show this help message and exit -g {a,b,g,d,e} Some option, where a = alpha b = beta g = gamma d = delta e = epsilon How to insert newlines in the help text?
Try using RawTextHelpFormatter to preserve all of your formatting: from argparse import RawTextHelpFormatter parser = ArgumentParser(description='test', formatter_class=RawTextHelpFormatter) It's similar to RawDescriptionHelpFormatter but instead of only applying to the description and epilog, RawTextHelpFormatter also applies to all help text (including arguments).