cli-tui-development

# Skill: CLI/TUI Development ## What I do - Build command-line interface (CLI) applications - Create Terminal User Interface (TUI) applications - Design interactive terminal experiences - Structure CLI architecture with subcommands - Handle user input, prompts, and interactive workflows ## When to use me When building terminal-based applications, CLIs for tools/libraries, TUIs for data visualization, or interactive command-line tools. ## Key Concepts ### CLI vs TUI - **CLI**: Command-line interface - text-based commands and arguments - **TUI**: Terminal User Interface - interactive UI with widgets, menus, mouse support ### Architecture Patterns ``` CLI Structure: ├── main command │ ├── subcommand --option <arg> │ ├── subcommand --flag │ └── subcommand <arg> TUI Structure: ├── App │ ├── Layout │ │ ├── Header │ │ ├── Sidebar │ │ └── Content │ └── Widgets │ ├── Button │ ├── Input │ ├── List │ └── Table ``` ### Color & Styling - ANSI escape codes for terminal colors - 256-color palette support - Truecolor (24-bit) for modern terminals - Rich/Textual CSS-like styling ## Language Ecosystem ### Python - **Textual**: Modern async TUI framework (built on Rich) - **Rich**: Rich text output, tables, progress bars - **Click**: CLI framework with decorators - **Typer**: Type-hint based CLI (built on Click) - **Curses/ncurses**: Low-level TUI (classic) ### JavaScript/TypeScript - **Inquirer.js/@inquirer**: Interactive prompts - **Commander.js**: CLI argument parsing - **Yargs**: CLI builder with chains - **Chalk**: Terminal string styling - **oclif**: Heroku's CLI framework ### Rust - **Ratatui**: Rust TUI library - **Cursive**: Rust TUI framework - **Clap**: CLI argument parsing - **Bubble Tea**: Elm-inspired TUI (Golang) ### Go - **Bubble Tea**: TUI framework - **Cobra**: CLI framework - **Lip Gloss**: Styled terminal output ## Best Practices 1. **Structure commands logically** - Use groups/subcommands 2. **Provide helpful output** - Rich formatting, tables, progress 3. **Handle errors gracefully** - Clear error messages 4. **Support shell completion** - Bash, Zsh, Fish, PowerShell 5. **Test CLI behavior** - Use testing utilities 6. **Cross-platform support** - Windows compatibility matters 7. **Respect terminal capabilities** - Detect color support ## Example Stack Choices ### Python TUI (Modern) ```bash pip install textual rich ``` ### Python CLI (Modern) ```bash pip install typer rich ``` ### JavaScript CLI ```bash npm install @inquirer/prompts commander chalk ```