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CraftApril 5, 202515 min

Building CLI Tools with Node.js: Complete Guide

Master CLI development. Learn Commander, Inquirer, Chalk, and CLI best practices.

Ü
Ümit Uz
Mobile & Full Stack Developer

Getting Started

typescript
#!/usr/bin/env node
import { Command } from 'commander';
import inquirer from 'inquirer';
import chalk from 'chalk';

const program = new Command();

program
  .name('mycli')
  .description('My awesome CLI tool')
  .version('1.0.0');

program
  .command('create <name>')
  .description('Create a new project')
  .action(async (name) => {
    console.log(chalk.green(`Creating ${name}...`));
    
    const answers = await inquirer.prompt([
      {
        type: 'confirm',
        name: 'typescript',
        message: 'Use TypeScript?',
        default: true
      }
    ]);
    
    if (answers.typescript) {
      console.log(chalk.blue('Adding TypeScript...'));
    }
  });

program.parse();

Conclusion

Building CLI tools with Node.js is powerful and fun.

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