{"slug":"cli-design","title":"cli-design","summary":"Design a CLI interface: args, flags, help, output, errors, exit codes, config.","platform":"Claude","tags":[],"authorName":"LLM Mart","authorSlug":"llm-mart","score":0,"source":"github","price":null,"verified":false,"createdAt":"2026-09-20T08:04:45.8197Z","repo":{"url":"https://github.com/notque/vexjoy-agent","stars":421,"forks":44,"license":"MIT","updatedAt":"2026-09-20T03:34:38Z"},"bodyHtml":"
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name: cli-design\ndescription: \"Design a CLI interface: args, flags, help, output, errors, exit codes, config.\"\nuser_invocable: false # default -- router-dispatched, not user-typed\nallowed-tools:

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CLI Design

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Design a command-line tool's interface before implementation: human-first, script-friendly, Linux-only. Output is a compact spec the user or an agent can implement directly. Rubric source: clig.dev (rebuilt as references/clig-checklist.md).

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Deep References

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WhenLoadContent
Phase 2: applying design rubricreferences/clig-checklist.mdCLI design checklist condensed from clig.dev
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Workflow

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Phase 1: SCOPE

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Lock the interface with the minimum questions. Proceed with the conventions in Phase 2 when the user is unsure.

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Gate: name, purpose, and I/O contract are known. Proceed only when gate passes.

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Phase 2: DESIGN

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Load references/clig-checklist.md and apply it as the default rubric. For each section, pick the convention and record it in the spec. Diverge from a convention only deliberately, and document the divergence in the spec — interfaces are contracts, and surprising contracts break scripts.

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Phase 3: DELIVER

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Produce the spec from this skeleton. Drop a section only when it genuinely has no content; fill every other section.

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  1. Name and one-liner: command name plus a single sentence of purpose
    2. \n
  2. Usage line: the synopsis as --help will print it, global flags and subcommand slot included
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  3. Subcommands: purpose of each, whether it mutates state, whether re-running it is safe
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  4. Args/flags table: columns for name, type, default, required?, example
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  5. I/O contract: primary data and machine-readable output on stdout; everything else (errors, progress, logs) on stderr
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  6. Exit codes: map each failure mode to a code — success 0, failure 1, bad usage 2; mint extra codes only for cases scripts must distinguish
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  7. Safety: --dry-run, confirmation rules, --force, --no-input
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  8. Env/config: env vars; config file path; precedence order with flags highest, then env, project config, user config, system
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  9. Examples: enough invocations to cover the common flows; show at least one pipeline or stdin use
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Gate: every flag used in the examples appears in the flags table, and every failure mode shown maps to an exit code.

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Constraints

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Error handling

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Request mixes design and implementation

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Cause: user says \"design and build.\"\nSolution: deliver the spec first, get confirmation, then implement against it.

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Spec balloons past one page

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Cause: subcommand sprawl or speculative flags.\nSolution: cut flags that lack a named user need; defaults should serve most users without aliases.

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