Add tabcmd/__main__.py so python -m tabcmd works reliably for installed users

Open Beginner friendly
#375 0 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

Assessment

Difficulty
1/5
Estimated time
Under an hour
Newbie friendliness
65/100
Issue type
Feature
Clarity
Clearly specified
Activity status
Stale
Tech stack
python
Domain
cli

Research direction

Start by comparing the top-level tabcmd.py entry point with the installed tabcmd package layout. Add the minimal tabcmd/main.py entry point, then verify that python -m tabcmd works from an installed package while the existing console-script behavior remains unchanged.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

Add tabcmd/main.py so python -m tabcmd works reliably for installed users

Currently, python -m tabcmd works in the repo because of the top-level tabcmd.py, but this relies on file/module resolution rather than the installed package layout.

When tabcmd is installed from PyPI, the repo-root tabcmd.py is not present, so python -m tabcmd will fail unless the package provides tabcmd/main.py.

Adding an explicit main.py makes the behavior unambiguous and aligns with standard Python packaging practices for CLI tools.

Proposed change:

Add a minimal tabcmd/main.py

No behavior change for users invoking tabcmd via the console script
• Improves compatibility with tooling (pipx, PyInstaller, zipapps, etc.)

Optional follow-up (not required for this issue):
• Consider keeping tabcmd.py at repo root as a dev-only shim or removing it entirely to avoid name collisions.

Dominant language
Python
Stars
52
Forks
17
Avg merge
3d 8h
Merged PRs (30d)
6

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

More from tableau/tabcmd

All issues in tableau/tabcmd

Similar issues

More Python issues

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.