create-cli4ai

Create fully typed and validated cli4ai tools with a single command.

Usage

# Interactive mode
npx create-cli4ai

# With package name
npx create-cli4ai my-awesome-tool

# Quick mode with defaults
npx create-cli4ai my-tool -y

What it generates

A complete cli4ai package with:

• run.ts - CLI entry point with Commander.js
• lib.ts - Core logic separated from CLI handling
• schema.ts - Zod schemas for input validation (optional)
• lib.test.ts - Vitest test suite
• cli4ai.json - Package manifest
• package.json - npm package config
• tsconfig.json - TypeScript config
• README.md - Documentation

Interactive prompts

The CLI will ask you:

1. Package name - lowercase, hyphens allowed (e.g., my-tool)
2. Description - what your tool does
3. Author - optional
4. Use Zod? - for input validation
5. Commands - define each command with:
   • Name
   • Description
   • Arguments (name, required, type)
6. Environment variables - if your tool needs API keys, etc.

Example

$ npx create-cli4ai

create-cli4ai v1.0.0

? Package name: github-stats
? Description: Get GitHub repository statistics
? Author: yourname
? Use Zod for input validation? Yes

Commands
Define the commands for your tool. Press Enter with empty name to finish.

? Command 1 name: repos
? Description: List repositories for a user
  Arguments (press Enter with empty name to finish):
    ? Arg 1 name: username
    ? Required? Yes
    ? Description: GitHub username
    ? Type: string
    ? Arg 2 name:

? Command 2 name: stats
? Description: Get stats for a repository
  Arguments (press Enter with empty name to finish):
    ? Arg 1 name: repo
    ? Required? Yes
    ? Description: Repository name (owner/repo)
    ? Type: string
    ? Arg 2 name:

? Command 3 name:

Environment Variables
Define required env vars. Press Enter with empty name to finish.

? Env var 1 name: GITHUB_TOKEN
? Required? No
? Description: GitHub personal access token
? Env var 2 name:

Done! Created github-stats

Next steps:
  cd github-stats
  npm test
  npx tsx run.ts --help

Generated structure

github-stats/
├── cli4ai.json      # cli4ai manifest
├── package.json     # npm package
├── run.ts           # CLI entry point
├── lib.ts           # Core logic
├── lib.test.ts      # Tests
├── schema.ts        # Zod validation schemas
├── tsconfig.json    # TypeScript config
├── vitest.config.ts # Test config
├── README.md        # Documentation
└── .gitignore

Options

| Option | Description | |--------|-------------| | -y, --yes | Skip prompts, use defaults | | -d, --dir <dir> | Output directory (defaults to package name) | | --no-git | Skip git initialization | | --no-install | Skip npm install |

Why separate lib.ts?

Keeping business logic in lib.ts separate from CLI handling in run.ts:

1. Testable - Easy to unit test without CLI overhead
2. Reusable - Import functions in other projects
3. Clean - Clear separation of concerns
4. MCP-ready - Logic works the same via CLI or MCP

Zod validation

When you enable Zod, the generated code includes:

• Input validation for command arguments
• Environment variable validation
• Type inference from schemas
• Helpful error messages

// Generated schema.ts
export const envSchema = z.object({
  GITHUB_TOKEN: z.string().optional(),
});

// Generated lib.ts
export const reposInputSchema = z.object({
  username: z.string(),
});

License

MIT