ace

A CLI tool for interview prep focusing on frontend. Scaffolds questions with test cases, tracks progress with scorecards, and provides LLM-powered feedback.

Install

npm install -g ace-interview-prep

Quick Start

1. Configure API Keys

ace setup

Stores your OpenAI / Anthropic API keys in ~/.ace/config.json (one-time, works across all workspaces). If both keys are valid, ace setup prompts you to choose a default provider (openai or anthropic).

# Non-interactive
ace setup --openai-key sk-... --anthropic-key sk-ant-...

# Set default provider explicitly when both keys are configured
ace setup --openai-key sk-... --anthropic-key sk-ant-... --default-provider anthropic

2. Initialize a Workspace

Navigate to any folder where you want to practice, then run:

ace init

ace init bootstraps the workspace and installs dependencies for you. It:

# Creates/updates workspace files
# - questions/
# - package.json (adds test scripts + devDependencies if missing)
# - tsconfig.json
# - vitest.config.ts
# - vitest.setup.ts
#
# Installs dependencies automatically via npm install

If you need to regenerate workspace files:

ace init --force

3. Practice

# Generate a question interactively (prompts for category, difficulty, topic)
ace generate

# Or pass flags to skip prompts
ace generate --topic "debounce" --category js-ts --difficulty medium

# Interactive brainstorm mode
ace generate --brainstorm

# List all questions
ace list

4. Test, Review, Track

All commands below work in three modes:

• Interactive — run with no arguments to pick from a selectable list
• Direct — pass a slug to target a specific question
• All — pass --all to operate on every question

# Run tests
ace test              # pick from list
ace test debounce     # specific question
ace test --all        # run all tests
ace test --watch      # watch mode (with --all)

# Get LLM feedback on your solution
ace feedback          # pick from list
ace feedback debounce # specific question
ace feedback --all    # review all questions (confirms each one)

# View scorecard
ace score             # pick from list
ace score debounce    # specific question
ace score --all       # show all scorecards

# Reset a question to its stub
ace reset             # pick from list
ace reset debounce    # specific question
ace reset --all       # reset everything (with confirmation)

5. Dispute Potentially Incorrect Tests

Use this when your implementation appears correct but a generated test assertion might be wrong.

# Dispute interactively (pick a question)
ace dispute

# Dispute a specific question
ace dispute debounce

# Optional: force a provider for dispute analysis
ace dispute debounce --provider anthropic

If the verdict says the test is incorrect (or ambiguous), ace can apply a corrected test file and re-run tests.

Question Categories

| Category | Slug | Type | Focus | |----------|------|------|-------| | JS/TS Puzzles | js-ts | Coding | Closures, async patterns, type utilities | | React Components | web-components | Coding | Props, events, composition, reusable UI | | React Web Apps | react-apps | Coding | Hooks, state, routing, full features | | LeetCode Data Structures | leetcode-ds | Coding | Trees, graphs, heaps, hash maps | | LeetCode Algorithms | leetcode-algo | Coding | DP, greedy, two pointers, sorting | | System Design — Frontend | design-fe | Design | Component architecture, state, rendering | | System Design — Backend | design-be | Design | APIs, databases, caching, queues | | System Design — Full Stack | design-full | Design | End-to-end systems, trade-offs |

How It Works

1. Generate a question — run ace generate and follow the prompts (category, difficulty, topic), or use ace generate --brainstorm for an interactive design session.
2. Open the question folder — read README.md for the problem statement.
3. Write your solution in the solution file (solution.ts, App.tsx, Component.tsx, or notes.md).
4. Run tests with ace test to pick a question and check your work.
5. Get feedback with ace feedback for an LLM-powered code or design review.
6. Track progress with ace score and ace list.

Configuration

Global (~/.ace/) — API keys stored once, shared across all workspaces.

• ~/.ace/config.json — primary config (created by ace setup)
• ~/.ace/.env — fallback (dotenv format)
• Environment variables — final fallback

Typical ~/.ace/config.json keys:

• OPENAI_API_KEY
• ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
• default_provider (set automatically or via ace setup --default-provider ...)

Workspace — each workspace gets its own questions/ directory and test config.

Development

git clone https://github.com/neel/ace-interview-prep.git
cd ace-interview-prep
npm install
npm run ace help

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full development guide.

License

MIT