Tutorials - Reka Horvath: Building human-first and machine-friendly CLI applications

Learn how to build human-first and machine-friendly CLI applications using best practices and popular tools like clig.dev, cookiecutter, and typer.

Key takeaways

Use a site such as clig.dev for building human-first and machine-friendly CLI applications.
Consider using a command-line argument parsing library.
Use a template, such as cookiecutter, to create a project structure and enable consistency across the application.
The principle of least surprise should guide the design of the CLI.
Consistency is key to a user-friendly CLI, and shared options can help achieve this.
Validate user input to prevent errors and improve the user experience.
Use typer to generate help text and other output.
Include interactive features, such as prompts, to make the CLI more user-friendly.
Use standard output and standard error to provide feedback to the user.
Consider using a completion script to help users complete commands.
Keep the code simple and easy to understand.
Test the CLI thoroughly to ensure it works as expected.
Use a framework, such as clique, to simplify the process of building a CLI.

More talks