Agent skill · software engineering · aiskillstore
cli-design-expert
Expert CLI/TUI designer for building intuitive, user-friendly, and professional command-line interfaces. Focuses on UX patterns, help systems, progressive disclosure, and developer ergonomics.
Why this skill is useful
Provides detailed design patterns and conventions for creating user-friendly CLI tools that the AI wouldn't reliably generate on its own.
What it needs
About 7k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-07. 405 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
CLI Design Expert Overview This skill provides expert guidance for designing and implementing professional CLI tools with: Intuitive UX: Commands that work as users expect Progressive Disclosure: Simple by default, powerful when needed Excellent Help: Self-documenting commands with rich examples Error Recovery: Helpful errors that guide users to success Professional Polish: Consistent styling, colors, and output formatting PROACTIVE USAGE Invoke this skill before: Creating new CLI commands Designing command structures Writing help text and documentation Implementing error messages Adding interactive prompts --- Critical Design Principles 1. Command Structure - Follow Git's Model 2. Option Naming Conventions 3. Exit Codes --- Help System Design 1. Three Levels of Help 2. Example-Driven Documentation --- Error Message Design 1. Helpful Error Format 2. Error Categories 3. Validation Errors --- Interactive Prompts 1. Inquirer.js Patterns 2. Confirmation for Destructive Actions --- Output Formatting 1. Tables 2. JSON Output for Scripting 3. Progress Indicators --- Color Usage --- Shell Completion --- Review Checklist Before releasing any CLI command: [ ] --help provides clear, example-rich documentation [ ] Short and long options for common flags [ ] Exit codes are meaningful (0 = success, non-zero = error) [ ] Error messages explain what went wrong AND how to fix it [ ] Destructive actions require confirmation (unless --force) [ ] --json output available for scripting [ ] --quiet / --verbose options where appropriate [ ] Colors are used semantically and respect NOCOLOR env var [ ] Progress indicators for long-running operations [ ] Validation shows all errors at once, not one at a time
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills aiskillstore/cli-design-expert