Building a CLI Tool with Node.js: From Zero to NPM

mkdir my-cli && cd my-cli
pnpm init
pnpm add commander chalk ora
pnpm add -D typescript @types/node tsx

// package.json
{
  "name": "my-cli",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "bin": {
    "mycli": "./dist/index.js"
  },
  "type": "module"
}

#!/usr/bin/env node
// src/index.ts
import { Command } from 'commander'
import chalk from 'chalk'

const program = new Command()

program
  .name('mycli')
  .description('My awesome CLI tool')
  .version('1.0.0')

program
  .command('init')
  .description('Initialize a new project')
  .argument('[name]', 'Project name', 'my-project')
  .option('-t, --template <template>', 'Template to use', 'default')
  .action(async (name, options) => {
    console.log(chalk.blue(`Creating project: ${name}`))
    console.log(chalk.gray(`Template: ${options.template}`))
    await createProject(name, options.template)
    console.log(chalk.green('✓ Done!'))
  })

program.parse()

import ora from 'ora'

async function createProject(name: string, template: string) {
  const spinner = ora('Creating project structure...').start()

  await mkdir(name)
  spinner.text = 'Installing dependencies...'

  await installDeps(name)
  spinner.text = 'Configuring...'

  await configure(name, template)
  spinner.succeed('Project created successfully!')
}

import { input, select, confirm } from '@inquirer/prompts'

async function interactiveInit() {
  const name = await input({
    message: 'Project name:',
    default: 'my-app',
  })

  const template = await select({
    message: 'Choose a template:',
    choices: [
      { name: 'Minimal', value: 'minimal' },
      { name: 'Full-stack (Nuxt)', value: 'nuxt' },
      { name: 'API only', value: 'api' },
    ],
  })

  const useDocker = await confirm({
    message: 'Add Docker setup?',
    default: true,
  })

  return { name, template, useDocker }
}

program
  .command('deploy')
  .action(async () => {
    try {
      await deploy()
    } catch (error) {
      console.error(chalk.red('✗ Deploy failed:'))
      console.error(chalk.gray((error as Error).message))
      process.exit(1)
    }
  })

# Build
pnpm tsc

# Test locally
npm link
mycli --help

# Publish
npm login
npm publish