diff --git a/sphinx/ext/apidoc/_cli.py b/sphinx/ext/apidoc/_cli.py
index 63b7bde6c8e..f653eea5ce7 100644
--- a/sphinx/ext/apidoc/_cli.py
+++ b/sphinx/ext/apidoc/_cli.py
@@ -263,18 +263,19 @@ def main(argv: Sequence[str] = (), /) -> int:
     sphinx.locale.init_console()
 
     parser = get_parser()
-    args: CliOptions = parser.parse_args(argv or sys.argv[1:])
+    args = parser.parse_args(argv or sys.argv[1:])
 
-    rootpath = os.path.abspath(args.module_path)
+    args.module_path = rootpath = Path(args.module_path).resolve()
 
     # normalize opts
 
     if args.header is None:
-        args.header = rootpath.split(os.path.sep)[-1]
+        args.header = str(rootpath).split(os.path.sep)[-1]
     args.suffix = args.suffix.removeprefix('.')
     if not Path(rootpath).is_dir():
         logger.error(__('%s is not a directory.'), rootpath)
         raise SystemExit(1)
+    args.destdir = destdir = Path(args.destdir)
     if not args.dryrun:
         ensuredir(args.destdir)
     excludes = tuple(
@@ -285,7 +286,9 @@ def main(argv: Sequence[str] = (), /) -> int:
         args.automodule_options = set()
     elif isinstance(args.automodule_options, str):
         args.automodule_options = set(args.automodule_options.split(','))
-    written_files, modules = recurse_tree(rootpath, excludes, args, args.templatedir)
+
+    opts = CliOptions(**args.__dict__)
+    written_files, modules = recurse_tree(rootpath, excludes, opts, args.templatedir)
 
     if args.full:
         from sphinx.cmd import quickstart as qs
@@ -299,7 +302,7 @@ def main(argv: Sequence[str] = (), /) -> int:
             prev_module = module
             text += f'   {module}\n'
         d: dict[str, Any] = {
-            'path': args.destdir,
+            'path': str(destdir),
             'sep': False,
             'dot': '_',
             'project': args.header,
@@ -320,7 +323,7 @@ def main(argv: Sequence[str] = (), /) -> int:
             'mastertocmaxdepth': args.maxdepth,
             'mastertoctree': text,
             'language': 'en',
-            'module_path': rootpath,
+            'module_path': str(rootpath),
             'append_syspath': args.append_syspath,
         }
         if args.extensions:
@@ -339,10 +342,10 @@ def main(argv: Sequence[str] = (), /) -> int:
             )
     elif args.tocfile:
         written_files.append(
-            create_modules_toc_file(modules, args, args.tocfile, args.templatedir)
+            create_modules_toc_file(modules, opts, args.tocfile, args.templatedir)
         )
 
     if args.remove_old and not args.dryrun:
-        _remove_old_files(written_files, Path(args.destdir), args.suffix)
+        _remove_old_files(written_files, destdir, args.suffix)
 
     return 0
diff --git a/sphinx/ext/apidoc/_generate.py b/sphinx/ext/apidoc/_generate.py
index 9d3fbe56277..708e7ca35d7 100644
--- a/sphinx/ext/apidoc/_generate.py
+++ b/sphinx/ext/apidoc/_generate.py
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import dataclasses
 import glob
 import os
 import os.path
 from importlib.machinery import EXTENSION_SUFFIXES
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Protocol
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
 from sphinx import package_dir
 from sphinx.ext.apidoc import logger
@@ -267,7 +268,7 @@ def has_child_module(
 
 
 def recurse_tree(
-    rootpath: str,
+    rootpath: str | os.PathLike[str],
     excludes: Sequence[re.Pattern[str]],
     opts: CliOptions,
     user_template_dir: str | None = None,
@@ -277,6 +278,7 @@ def recurse_tree(
     ReST files.
     """
     # check if the base directory is a package and get its name
+    rootpath = os.fspath(rootpath)
     if is_packagedir(rootpath) or opts.implicit_namespaces:
         root_package = rootpath.split(os.path.sep)[-1]
     else:
@@ -349,34 +351,35 @@ def is_excluded(root: str | Path, excludes: Sequence[re.Pattern[str]]) -> bool:
     return any(exclude.match(root_str) for exclude in excludes)
 
 
-class CliOptions(Protocol):
-    """Arguments parsed from the command line."""
+@dataclasses.dataclass(frozen=True, kw_only=True, slots=True)
+class CliOptions:
+    """Options for apidoc."""
 
-    module_path: str
+    module_path: Path
     exclude_pattern: list[str]
-    destdir: str
-    quiet: bool
-    maxdepth: int
-    force: bool
-    followlinks: bool
-    dryrun: bool
-    separatemodules: bool
-    includeprivate: bool
-    tocfile: str
-    noheadings: bool
-    modulefirst: bool
-    implicit_namespaces: bool
-    automodule_options: set[str]
-    suffix: str
-
-    remove_old: bool
+    destdir: Path
+    quiet: bool = False
+    maxdepth: int = 4
+    force: bool = False
+    followlinks: bool = False
+    dryrun: bool = False
+    separatemodules: bool = False
+    includeprivate: bool = False
+    tocfile: str = 'modules'
+    noheadings: bool = False
+    modulefirst: bool = False
+    implicit_namespaces: bool = False
+    automodule_options: set[str] = dataclasses.field(default_factory=set)
+    suffix: str = 'rst'
+
+    remove_old: bool = False
 
     # --full only
-    full: bool
-    append_syspath: bool
-    header: str
-    author: str | None
-    version: str | None
-    release: str | None
-    extensions: list[str] | None
-    templatedir: str | None
+    full: bool = False
+    append_syspath: bool = False
+    header: str = ''
+    author: str | None = None
+    version: str | None = None
+    release: str | None = None
+    extensions: list[str] | None = None
+    templatedir: str | None = None