PIC-LI — Project Initializer Command

One command to scaffold any project, in any stack, with everything ready to run.

  PIC-LI  Project Initializer Command  v1.0.0
  ──────────────────────────────────────────────────

Installation

From npm (once published)

npm install -g pic-li

From source

git clone https://github.com/yourname/pic-li.git
cd pic-li
npm install
npm link        # makes `pic` available globally

Requirements: Node.js v16 or higher.
The pic CLI itself only needs Node. Stack-specific tools (Java, Python, Flutter, Go) are only required when generating that stack's projects.

Commands

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | pic create [name] | Create a new project (interactive or with flags) | | pic init | Initialize PIC config in an existing project folder | | pic add <integration> | Add an integration to the current project | | pic remove <integration> | Remove an integration from the current project | | pic list | List all stacks and templates | | pic check [stack] | Check if dependencies for a stack are installed | | pic doctor | Full system diagnostic — all tools at once | | pic run | Start the dev server (reads .pic/config.json) | | pic build | Build for production | | pic open | Open the project in VS Code, Cursor, etc. | | pic setup | Show install commands for missing tools |

Creating a project

Interactive (recommended)

pic create

Arrow-key menus guide you through stack → template → name.
Works on Windows CMD, PowerShell, macOS, Linux (bash/zsh/fish).

With flags (CI-friendly, no prompts)

# React + Vite + Tailwind
pic create my-app --stack react-vite --template tailwind

# FastAPI + SQLAlchemy
pic create my-api --stack fastapi --template with-sqlalchemy

# Spring Boot + MySQL  
pic create my-svc --stack spring-boot --template rest-api-mysql

# Flutter + Riverpod
pic create my-mobile --stack flutter --template with-riverpod

# Next.js + Tailwind + TypeScript
pic create my-site --stack nextjs --template tailwind-typescript

# MERN monorepo
pic create my-app --stack mern --template with-tailwind

# Go + Gin
pic create my-api --stack go --template rest-api

Supported stacks

Frontend

| ID | Stack | Templates | |----|-------|-----------| | react-vite | React + Vite | default tailwind tailwind-shadcn typescript | | react-cra | React (Create React App) | default typescript | | nextjs | Next.js | default tailwind typescript tailwind-typescript | | vue | Vue 3 + Vite | default typescript tailwind | | angular | Angular | default material tailwind |

Backend (Node)

| ID | Stack | Templates | |----|-------|-----------| | express | Express.js | default rest-api rest-api-mongo rest-api-postgres | | nestjs | NestJS | default rest-api graphql microservice |

Backend (Java)

| ID | Stack | Templates | |----|-------|-----------| | spring-boot | Spring Boot (Maven) | default rest-api rest-api-mysql rest-api-postgres microservice | | spring-gradle | Spring Boot (Gradle) | default rest-api rest-api-mysql |

Backend (Python)

| ID | Stack | Templates | |----|-------|-----------| | fastapi | FastAPI | default with-sqlalchemy with-mongodb full-stack | | flask | Flask | default rest-api with-sqlalchemy | | django | Django + DRF | default with-drf with-postgres |

Mobile

| ID | Stack | Templates | |----|-------|-----------| | flutter | Flutter | default with-provider with-riverpod with-bloc | | react-native | React Native (Expo) | default tabs with-typescript |

Fullstack

| ID | Stack | Templates | |----|-------|-----------| | mern | MERN Stack | default with-auth with-tailwind |

Backend (Go)

| ID | Stack | Templates | |----|-------|-----------| | go | Go + Gin | default rest-api with-gorm |

Integrations

Add integrations to any existing project:

pic add tailwind      # Tailwind CSS v3 — writes configs, no npx init
pic add eslint        # ESLint + Prettier
pic add docker        # Dockerfile + docker-compose.yml
pic add firebase      # Firebase SDK + src/firebase.js
pic add prisma        # Prisma ORM + schema
pic add mongoose      # Mongoose + connection helper
pic add shadcn        # shadcn/ui prerequisites
pic add husky         # Husky + lint-staged
pic add auth          # JWT auth middleware (Node stacks)

Remove integrations:

pic remove tailwind
pic remove docker
pic remove eslint

pic init — existing projects

Run inside any existing project to create .pic/config.json.
PIC auto-detects the stack by scanning package.json, pom.xml, go.mod, manage.py, etc.

cd my-existing-project
pic init

After init, you can use pic run, pic build, and pic open in that project.

pic run / pic build / pic open

These commands read .pic/config.json and run the right command for your stack.
If no config exists, they auto-detect from the project files.

pic run          # npm run dev / uvicorn / mvn spring-boot:run / go run . / etc.
pic build        # npm run build / mvn package / go build / etc.
pic open         # opens in VS Code, Cursor, Sublime, or IDEA (first found)

pic doctor

Full environment health check — shows every tool, version, and install link:

pic doctor

  System health check
  ────────────────────────────────────────────

         Core tools
  [+]  Node.js          v20.11.0
  [+]  npm              v10.2.4
  [+]  Git              v2.44.0

         Java
  [+]  Java JDK         v21.0.2
  [-]  Maven            not installed  https://maven.apache.org/install.html

pic setup

Interactive guide — shows the exact install command for your OS:

pic setup

Covers Node.js, Git, Java, Maven, Python, Go, Docker.
Detects Windows (winget), macOS (brew), and Linux (apt).

Environment variables

Set PIC_DEBUG=1 for full stack traces on errors:

PIC_DEBUG=1 pic create my-app --stack react-vite

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md.