node-cli

name	node-cli
description	Build a Node.js CLI tool with Commander.js, interactive prompts, colored terminal output, and pnpm packaging. Use when creating a command-line interface for a Node.js project. Triggers include "CLI tool", "command line", "Commander.js", "terminal interface", "interactive prompts", or any task requiring a Node.js CLI.

node-cli

Scaffold and build Node.js CLI tools with Commander.js, interactive prompts, and formatted terminal output.

When to Use

• Adding a CLI interface to an existing Node.js project
• Creating a standalone CLI tool distributed via npm
• Building an interactive terminal wizard
• Adding colored output and progress indicators to a script

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• pnpm

Quick Start

mkdir my-cli && cd my-cli
pnpm init
pnpm add commander @inquirer/prompts chalk

Package Setup

package.json:

{
  "name": "my-cli",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "type": "module",
  "bin": {
    "my-cli": "./dist/cli.js"
  },
  "scripts": {
    "build": "tsc",
    "dev": "tsx src/cli.ts",
    "typecheck": "tsc --noEmit",
    "lint": "eslint src"
  }
}

Commander.js Pattern

import { Command } from 'commander';

const program = new Command();

program
  .name('my-cli')
  .description('Tool description')
  .version('1.0.0');

program
  .command('generate')
  .description('Generate something')
  .option('--domain <name>', 'Domain name')
  .option('--output <file>', 'Output file', 'output.conf')
  .action(async (opts) => {
    // implementation
  });

program.parse();

Interactive Prompts with @inquirer/prompts

import { input, select, confirm, checkbox } from '@inquirer/prompts';

const domain = await input({
  message: 'Server name:',
  default: 'example.com',
});

const serverType = await select({
  message: 'Server type:',
  choices: [
    { value: 'proxy', name: 'Reverse Proxy' },
    { value: 'static', name: 'Static Files' },
  ],
});

const ssl = await confirm({
  message: 'Enable SSL?',
  default: true,
});

Colored Terminal Output

Use a log.ts utility. Do not use raw ANSI codes in business logic.

// src/lib/log.ts
const c = {
  green: (s: string) => `\x1b[32m${s}\x1b[0m`,
  red: (s: string) => `\x1b[31m${s}\x1b[0m`,
  yellow: (s: string) => `\x1b[33m${s}\x1b[0m`,
  cyan: (s: string) => `\x1b[36m\x1b[4m${s}\x1b[0m`,
  dim: (s: string) => `\x1b[2m${s}\x1b[0m`,
  bold: (s: string) => `\x1b[1m${s}\x1b[0m`,
};

export const log = {
  ok: (msg: string) => console.log(`${c.green('ok')}  ${msg}`),
  info: (: , : ) => .(),
  :  .(),
  :  .(),
  :  c.(p),
};

Standard Output Format

  tool-name v1.0.0

  ok  operation completed
  --  label     value
  --  file      ./output.conf

  Press Ctrl+C to exit.

Rules:

• ok in green for success
• -- in dim for metadata/info lines
• x in red for errors
• * in yellow for warnings
• Labels right-padded with spaces to align values
• File paths in cyan with underline

Distribution

To publish as a global npm package:

pnpm build
npm publish --access public

Users install with:

npm install -g my-cli

tsconfig.json

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "ES2022",
    "module": "ESNext",
    "moduleResolution": "bundler",
    "outDir": "dist",
    "strict": true,
    "noUncheckedIndexedAccess": true
  },
  "include": ["src"]
}

Dependencies

Package	Purpose
commander	Argument parsing, subcommands, help generation
@inquirer/prompts	Interactive prompts (input, select, confirm, checkbox)
tsx	Run TypeScript directly in development
typescript	TypeScript compiler