How to build useful, empathic and robust CLI tools
Written by Stefan Judis
- Published at
- Updated at
- Reading time
- 1min
I love well-crafted CLI tooling. Multiple colors, space formatting, creative spinners, some emojis... I'm all in for these things. And while I enjoy these tiny details, there is so much more to consider when building a CLI interface.
- When should you use
stdout
orstderr
? - Which standard CLI parameters should you use?
- How do you write an excellent help dialog?
The Command Line Interface Guidelines answer the above and many other questions. They are a beautiful guide on commonly used CLI best practices that's worth bookmarking.
So, if you're building a CLI tool, check the included recommendations! I promise they will make your tool more useable and more delightful to use!
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