From 54415f9527dbbb5830fcaa01456ec5cbe952ec69 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "killua.z" <abdussametersoylu@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 5 May 2026 11:57:36 +0400
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] feat: add reference capabilities to positional arguments.
 use existing v2 api to capture reference arguments.

---
 src/headers/parser/argument_builder.hpp |  6 +----
 src/headers/parser/parser_v2.hpp        | 30 ++++++++++++++++++++++---
 2 files changed, 28 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/headers/parser/argument_builder.hpp b/src/headers/parser/argument_builder.hpp
index 2de870c..26aa89b 100644
--- a/src/headers/parser/argument_builder.hpp
+++ b/src/headers/parser/argument_builder.hpp
@@ -368,12 +368,8 @@ private:
             throw std::logic_error("reference() was selected without a target.");
         }
 
+        pairs[argument_parser::v2::flags::Reference] = target;
         parser.template add_argument<store_type>(pairs);
-        parser.on_complete([target, key](argument_parser::base_parser const& completed_parser) {
-            if (auto value = completed_parser.template get_optional<store_type>(key)) {
-                *target = value.value();
-            }
-        });
     }
 
     auto build_parametered_action(argument_parser::v2::base_parser& parser) const -> void {
diff --git a/src/headers/parser/parser_v2.hpp b/src/headers/parser/parser_v2.hpp
index bfea633..239ee65 100644
--- a/src/headers/parser/parser_v2.hpp
+++ b/src/headers/parser/parser_v2.hpp
@@ -154,9 +154,13 @@ namespace argument_parser::v2 {
 				found_params[extended_add_argument_flags::Action] = true;
 				if constexpr (!std::is_same_v<T, void>) {
 				    auto ref = get_or_throw<T*>(argument_pairs.at(add_argument_flags::Reference), "reference");
-					action = helpers::make_parametered_action<T>([ref](T const& t) {
-					    *ref = t;
-					}).clone();
+					if (action) {
+					    throw std::logic_error("Cannot use both action and reference for the same argument");
+					} else {
+						action = helpers::make_parametered_action<T>([ref](T const& t) {
+							*ref = t;
+						}).clone();
+					}
 				} else {
 				    throw std::logic_error("Reference argument must not be void");
 				}
@@ -255,6 +259,26 @@ namespace argument_parser::v2 {
 				position = get_or_throw<int>(argument_pairs.at(add_argument_flags::Position), "position");
 			}
 
+			if (argument_pairs.find(add_argument_flags::Reference) != argument_pairs.end()) {
+				if (!IsTyped) {
+				    throw std::logic_error("Reference argument must be typed");
+				}
+
+				if constexpr (!std::is_same_v<T, void>) {
+				    auto ref = get_or_throw<T*>(argument_pairs.at(add_argument_flags::Reference), "reference");
+					if (action) {
+					    throw std::logic_error("Cannot use both action and reference for the same argument");
+					} else {
+						action = helpers::make_parametered_action<T>([ref](T const& t) {
+							*ref = t;
+						}).clone();
+					}
+				} else {
+				    throw std::logic_error("Reference argument must not be void");
+				}
+			}
+
+
 			if (help_text.empty()) {
 				if constexpr (IsTyped) {
 					if constexpr (internal::sfinae::has_format_hint<parsing_traits::parser_trait<T>>::value &&

From c067bbca38d927140a82afa0223970ad0bc835c9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "killua.z" <abdussametersoylu@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 5 May 2026 11:58:50 +0400
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] update: example to display capturing capability via
 positional args.

---
 examples/test/main.cpp | 9 ++++++++-
 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/examples/test/main.cpp b/examples/test/main.cpp
index 09561d1..1cbe83e 100644
--- a/examples/test/main.cpp
+++ b/examples/test/main.cpp
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ auto main() -> int {
 
     argument::start()
         .positional("count")
-        .position(0)
+        .position(1)
         .help_text("How many times to repeat the action.")
         .action<int>([](int const& count) {
             std::cout << "count action configured for " << count << '\n';
@@ -66,6 +66,13 @@ auto main() -> int {
         .reference(captured_value)
         .build(parser);
 
+    argument::start()
+        .positional("captured")
+        .position(0)
+        .help_text("Store the parsed value through a reference.")
+        .reference(captured_value)
+        .build(parser);
+
     // parser.add_argument<int>({
     //     {ShortArgument, "c"},
     //     {HelpText, "capture count"},