The docopt documentation says: > "[options]" is a shortcut that allows to avoid listing all options (from list of options with descriptions) in a pattern. For example: > > Usage: my_program [options] <path> > > --all List everything. > --long Long output. > --human-readable Display in human-readable format. > > is equivalent to: > > Usage: my_program [--all --long --human-readable] <path> > > --all List everything. > --long Long output. > --human-readable Display in human-readable format. However, it seems that docopt.c ignores this shortcut. It would be really nice if it didn't.