Very cryptic and bizarre. Although I've always been pleased with the Dancer2 documentation, I don't believe I've ever used that functionality before. I don't like how odd the 'help' messages are.

Here's what I've got on v0.301004:

steve@maezi ~/scratch >dancer2 -a

Unknown option: a
Usage: dancer2 [-h] -h --help --man [subcommand] at /Users/steve/perl5
+/perlbrew/perls/perl-5.32.1/lib/site_perl/5.32.1/CLI/Osprey/Descripti
+ve/Usage.pm line 329.

steve@maezi ~/scratch >dancer2 -h

Usage: dancer2 [-h] [-h] [--help] [--man] [subcommand]

Subcommands available: gen | version

-h      show a short help message
--help  show a long help message
--man   show the manual

steve@maezi ~/scratch >dancer2 gen

application is missing
Usage: dancer2 gen [-acdghoprsx] [-p|--path directory] [-a|--applicati
+on appname] [-d|--directory directory]
  [-c|--docker] [-g|--git] [-x|--no-check] [-o|--overwrite] [-r|--remo
+te URI]
  [-s|--skel directory] [-h] [--help] [--man]
[download]

...ahh, looks like we may be getting somewhere!

steve@maezi ~/scratch >dancer2 gen --help

Usage: dancer2 gen [-acdghoprsx] [-p|--path directory] [-a|--applicati
+on appname] [-d|--directory directory]
  [-c|--docker] [-g|--git] [-x|--no-check] [-o|--overwrite] [-r|--remo
+te URI]
  [-s|--skel directory] [-h] [--help] [--man]
-p|--path directory       application path (default: current directory
+)

-a|--application appname  application name
-d|--directory directory  application directory (default: same as appl
+ication
                          name)
-c|--docker               create a dockerfile (container definition)
-g|--git                  init git repository
-x|--no-check             don't check latest Dancer2 version (default:
+ check -
                          requires internet)
-o|--overwrite            overwrite existing files
-r|--remote URI           URI for git repository (implies -g)
-s|--skel directory       skeleton directory

-h                        show a short help message
--help                    show a long help message
--man                     show the manual
[download]

Let's try it:

steve@maezi ~/scratch >dancer2 gen -a AppName

The latest stable Dancer2 release is 0.400000. You are currently using
+ 0.301004.
Please check https://metacpan.org/pod/Dancer2/ for updates.

+ AppName
+ AppName/cpanfile
+ AppName/MANIFEST.SKIP
+ AppName/config.yml
+ AppName/Makefile.PL
+ AppName/.dancer
+ AppName/bin
+ AppName/bin/app.psgi
+ AppName/environments
+ AppName/environments/production.yml
+ AppName/environments/development.yml
+ AppName/t
+ AppName/t/001_base.t
+ AppName/t/002_index_route.t
+ AppName/public
+ AppName/public/favicon.ico
+ AppName/public/dispatch.cgi
+ AppName/public/500.html
+ AppName/public/404.html
+ AppName/public/dispatch.fcgi
+ AppName/lib
+ AppName/lib/AppName.pm
+ AppName/views
+ AppName/views/index.tt
+ AppName/public/css
+ AppName/public/css/style.css
+ AppName/public/css/error.css
+ AppName/public/images
+ AppName/public/images/perldancer-bg.jpg
+ AppName/public/images/perldancer.jpg
+ AppName/public/javascripts
+ AppName/public/javascripts/jquery.js
+ AppName/views/layouts
+ AppName/views/layouts/main.tt

Your new application is ready! To run it:

        cd AppName
        plackup bin/app.psgi

To access your application, point your browser to http://localhost:500
+0

If you need community assistance, the following resources are availabl
+e:
- Dancer website: https://perldancer.org
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/PerlDancer/
- GitHub: https://github.com/PerlDancer/Dancer2/
- Mailing list: https://lists.perldancer.org/mailman/listinfo/dancer-u
+sers
- IRC: irc.perl.org#dancer

Happy Dancing!
[download]

So it appears as though the tutorial is missing the gen keyword/command. If I get a chance tomorrow morning, I'll create a pull request with the fix (unless someone beats me to it).

Merge request created with the corrections.

That's great and it's nice to see a well-organised repo and a responsive team.

Not to take advantage of you, but what about the fact that the 'correct usage' message apparently comes from a die() in CLI::Osprey::Descriptive::Usage … whatever that is. It seems like a module with that name should be improving the user experience, not making it uglier.

Thanks for your reply and for following up.

I got very busy yesterday and didn't have a chance to reply—I eventually figured out the gen trick myself and have successfully created my first Dancer app.