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A Guide to Building CLI Tools in JavaScript

Shreshth Goyal on March 28, 2024

Welcome to an exciting journey into the world of command-line interface (CLI) tools using JavaScript. In this guide, I'll walk you through creati...
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Ethan Wood

I wonder where do you learn this knowledge to write this index.js file? I want to create a CLI for my project for the initial template of the project quickly, but I can`t find a tutorial or document for CLI development

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Fateh AK • Edited

@ztf4080 I've created a CLI tool for this exact purpose - 'Genzo'. Genzo can rapidly scaffold projects using your custom templates from local and remote sources. It automates the most common tasks involved in setting up a JavaScript-based project.

Do check it out and let me know your thoughts!

github.com/FatehAK/genzo-cli

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Ethan Wood

Looks like a good project, I will learn it😎

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Shreshth Goyal • Edited

I've found that a mix of official documentation, such as Node.js and npm guides, combined with community resources like GitHub projects and Stack Overflow discussions, is incredibly helpful. For CLI development specifically, exploring similar npm packages, or exploring different implementations for the same functionalities really helps.

For creating a CLI to provide the initial template of the project, you can either buiild on this, or for a more sophisticated and complex approach with more features you can explore different npm packages and their respective github repos, like this.

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Ethan Wood

Your advice is very comprehensive and I should find my way to this now. Super Thanks!

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Shreshth Goyal

Glad I could help!

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杨老汉儿

There is no ready-made tutorial for implementing CLI, but you can learn about its implementation principle through some articles, such as: segmentfault.com/a/1190000039267390

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Ethan Wood

原ζ₯ζ€ε¦ζœ‰θΏ™δΉˆε₯½ηš„ζ•™η¨‹ε•ŠοΌŒζ„Ÿθ°’老ε“₯!

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Shikhar

Although I am not a beginner, this is a one-stop guide for creating CLI tools. It is an excellent self-learning experience for nodejs and cli.
I would love another tutorial explaining other concepts, such as spawn processes, event-emitters, streams etc.

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Shreshth Goyal

Thank you for your words @shikhar13012001 πŸ˜‡.
Right now I am learning about language parsing and AST creation, but tutorial on these concepts is definitely on my radar now.
Cooking more content now - stay connected πŸš€

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Enzo Jade

Your guide to building CLI tools in JavaScript is incredibly comprehensive and well-explained! I appreciate how you break down each step, making it easy for beginners to follow along and understand the process. There is one such website named ProgrammingHomeworkHelp.com has been an invaluable resource for me as a budding JavaScript developer. It's inspired me to explore further, and experiment with new ideas.

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Shreshth Goyal

Thank you for your kind words Enzo! πŸ™Œ

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rishiyadav1923

One can also use oclif, for building CLI tools in JS, even few large companies use it to build there CLI u can see those organizations at bottom of oclif webpage

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Shreshth Goyal

Yeah! oclif provides a great framework for building CLI tools. Though imo can be overwhelming to start with.

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Daniella Elsie E.

This guide is helpful, thanks @shreshthgoyal

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Shreshth Goyal

πŸ™ŒπŸ™Œ

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Jigneshkumar Parekh

Wow! Really great article for building CLI tool. I was EXACTLY looking for such article.

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Shreshth Goyal

Glad it could be of help πŸ˜„πŸ˜„

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Raj Varsani

A good one indeed

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Shreshth Goyal • Edited

Thanks, Raj😎

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John Edward R. Labor

So informative. A good guide to start tinkering with Javascript and CLI.

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Shreshth Goyal

Thank you John! πŸ˜‡