cmdcli

Module which simplifies building of command line programs with multiple subcommands. cmdcli by default supports:

• arguments parsing
• multiple subcommands with aliases
• arguments completion (zsh/bash/fish)
• arguments prompt
• loading local and external subcommands
• asynchronous commands
• application global and local config
• easy integration using simple config file

How to use

Yeoman installation

mkdir <APP_FOLDER>
cd <APP_FOLDER>
npm install -g yo generator-cmdcli
yo cmdcli

Self setup command

This method runs yeoman generator internally to bootstrap cmdcli enabled application.

mkdir <APP_FOLDER>
cd <APP_FOLDER>
npm install -g cmdcli
cmdcli setup

Copy sample project

Clone cmdcli-example project

Manual installation

• Create new npm module and add cmdcli as dependency.

mkdir <APP_FOLDER>
cd <APP_FOLDER>
npm init
npm install -S cmdcli

• Create bin/<app_name> file with the following contents:

#!/usr/bin/env node 
require('../node_modules/cmdcli/lib/index');

• Create .cmdclirc.json config file
• Add bin entry in package.json

Configuration

commandsPattern (default: ['cmdcli-*', 'cmd-cli-*'])
Pattern used to find subcommands in project dependencies. All packages which will match the pattern will be included as subcommands.

commandsScope (default: ['dependencies', 'devDependencies', 'peerDependencies', 'optionalDependencies'])
Where to look for subcommands modules

localCommands (default: [])
Where to look for local submodules with subcommands. Local subcommands will be included without top level command.

configFile (default: .clirc)
What is the name of application config file. By default library will locate this file in home folder and first one found while traversing up folders structure.

baseConfig (default: {})
Base config object which will be overwritten by config files.

Commands

Sample command could look like this:

export default class Command {
  /**
   * Pass all arguments to cmdcli
   */
  get args() {
    return [
      ['param', {
        help: 'Sample param',
      }],
    ];
  }
 
  /**
   * Pass command alias/aliases
   */
  get aliases() {
    return ['co'];
  }
 
  /**
   * synchronous or asynchronous command execution function
   * args - Arguments parsed from command line - based on getArgs
   * cfg - Application configuration read from config files
   */
  exec(args, cfg) {
    return new Promise((resolve) => {
      resolve();
    })
  }
 
  /**
   * Optional print results function
   * results - results passed from exec function
   * args - Arguments parsed from command line - based on getArgs
   * cfg - Application configuration read from config files
   */
  print(results, args, cfg) {
    process.stdout.write("Print output from the exec command");
  }
 
  /**
   * Optional errors handling function
   * err - Error message
   * args - Arguments parsed from command line - based on getArgs
   * cfg - Application configuration read from config files
   */
  catch(err, args, cfg) {
    process.stdout.write("Handle execution errors");
  }
 
 
}

Params

Each command can have it's own set of positional and optional parameters. Here is how to define sample list of params:

export default class Command {
  get args() {
    return [
      ['one'], // simple positional argument. By default action will be 'store'
      ['-a', '--alpha'], // simple optional argument. By default optional arguments have action 'storeTrue'
      ['-b'],
      [['-c', '--longer']],
      ['param', {
        action: 'store', // set action for param see: https://github.com/nodeca/argparse#action-some-details
        help: 'Sample param', // help will show up in usage and help outputs
        message: 'Please provide param', // message will show up when falling back to inquirer (more to come)
        required: true, // (default: false) Mark optional param as required. Applies only to optional params.
        nargs: '*', // how many times argument can be used.
        isPassword: true, // whether given param is a password. Passwords are hidden with *** when given via prompt
        promptChoices: ['one', 'two'], // (array|fn) When no value is given to the positional argument prompt will be shown with available list of values
        ...
      }], // we can also apply configuration to each argument
    ];
  }
}

Logging

By default each cmdcli program comes with --verbose param which indicates log level. Each occurrence of -v or --verbose param rises log level up to 'silly'. By default log level is set to info but it can be silented using --silent param. Winston logging library stores error and debug logs on stderr while all others are sent to stdout.

import { logger } from 'cmdcli';
 
export default class Command {
  exec(args, config) {
    logger.error("TEST!!!!!");
    logger.warn("TEST!!!!!");
    logger.info("TEST!!!!!");
    logger.verbose("TEST!!!!!");
    logger.debug("TEST!!!!!");
    logger.silly("TEST!!!!!");
  }
}

$ program cmd
error: TEST!!!!!
warn: TEST!!!!!
info: TEST!!!!!
 
$ program -v cmd
error: TEST!!!!!
warn: TEST!!!!!
info: TEST!!!!!
verbose: TEST!!!!!
 
$ program -vv cmd
error: TEST!!!!!
warn: TEST!!!!!
info: TEST!!!!!
verbose: TEST!!!!!
debug: TEST!!!!!
 
$ program -vvv cmd
error: TEST!!!!!
warn: TEST!!!!!
info: TEST!!!!!
verbose: TEST!!!!!
debug: TEST!!!!!
silly: TEST!!!!!
 
$ program --silent cmd
 

Internal cmdcli logs can be seen using NODE_DEBUG=cmdcli.

$ NODE_DEBUG=cmdcli program cmd
CMDCLI 1996: CONFIG: parentDir = ...
CMDCLI 1996: CONFIG: packageFile = .../package.json
CMDCLI 1996: CONFIG: configFile = .../.cmdclirc.json
usage: program [-h] [-g] [--version] [--verbose] [--silent]
 
           {cmd}
           ...
program: error: too few arguments

Completions

Completions are handled automatically in bash/zsh and fish environments using node-tabtab project. To activate completion for your program you need to install tabtab script first. The easiest way to do this is to add following install script to your program:

{
  "scripts": {
    "install": "tabtab install"
  }
}

For more info take a look at tabtab module documentation.

By default completion will be handled for subcommands, optional arguments names and positional arguments with promptChoices parameter defined.

License

MIT © Daniel Wagner <[e-mail]>