CliFrame - Python CLI Development Framework

A simple and powerful framework for building interactive command-line applications with dynamic command discovery and hierarchical command organization.

🚀 Features

• Hierarchical Command Structure - Organize commands in folders and files
• Dynamic Command Discovery - Automatically discovers commands based on file structure
• Interactive Shell - Rich interactive CLI with tab completion
• Built-in Help System - Use ? to get help on any command or subcommand
• Configuration Mode - Special configuration mode with _configure folder support
• Rich Text Support - Color formatting and styled output
• Customizable Prompts - Set custom prompt text and mode indicators
• Method Chaining - Fluent API for easy CLI setup

📦 Installation

pip install cliframe

🏗️ Quick Start

1. Basic Setup

from cliframe import CliService

# Create and run CLI service
cli = CliService()
cli.motd("Welcome to My CLI App!", rich=True)
cli.prompt("myapp")
cli.run()

2. Command Structure

Organize your commands in a cli/ directory structure:

cli/
├── show/
│   ├── __init__.py          # 'show' command handler
│   ├── users.py             # 'show users' command
│   └── logs/
│       └── __init__.py      # 'show logs' command
├── start.py                 # 'start' command
├── stop.py                  # 'stop' command  
└── _configure/              # Configuration commands
    ├── network.py
    └── system.py

3. Command Handlers

Create command handlers as Python classes:

# cli/start.py
class StartCommand:
    """Start the application service."""
    
    def __init__(self, core):
        self.core = core
    
    def run(self, args=None):
        """Start the service with optional arguments."""
        print("Service started successfully!")
        return "Service is now running"

# Alternative: Use Command or StartCommand class names
class Command:  # Will be auto-discovered
    def run(self, args=None):
        print("Command executed!")

4. Advanced Configuration

from cliframe import CliService

cli = (CliService()
       .folder("/path/to/custom/cli/commands")  # Custom command folder
       .prompt("myapp")                         # Custom prompt
       .prompt_mode_sign("#")                   # Custom prompt sign
       .motd("🎉 Welcome to MyApp CLI!", rich=True))

cli.run()

🎯 Command Organization

File-based Commands

• command.py → command CLI command
• Each file should contain a command handler class

Directory-based Commands

• command/ → command CLI command group
• command/__init__.py → Handler for base command
• command/subcommand.py → Handler for command subcommand

Handler Class Discovery

CliFrame looks for handler classes in this order:

1. StartCommand class
2. Command class
3. Any class ending with Command
4. First class found in the module

🛠️ Interactive Features

Help System

• Type ? at the end of any command to get help
• command ? - Shows help for the command
• command sub ? - Shows help for subcommands

Tab Completion

• Smart tab completion for all available commands
• Context-aware completion based on current command path

Configuration Mode

• Create _configure/ folder for configuration commands
• Type configure to enter configuration mode
• Prompt changes to (config)#
• Type exit to leave configuration mode

📝 Example Usage

# Interactive CLI session
myapp> start ?                    # Get help for start command
myapp> show users                 # Execute show users command  
myapp> configure                  # Enter configuration mode
myapp(config)# network setup      # Run configuration command
myapp(config)# exit               # Exit configuration mode
myapp> exit                       # Exit CLI

🎨 Styling and Output

Color Markers

Use color markers in your command output:

def run(self, args=None):
    return "[green]Success![/green] Operation completed [yellow]successfully[/yellow]"

Available Styles

• [red]text[/red] - Red text
• [green]text[/green] - Green text
• [yellow]text[/yellow] - Yellow text
• [blue]text[/blue] - Blue text
• [magenta]text[/magenta] - Magenta text
• [cyan]text[/cyan] - Cyan text

🔧 API Reference

CliService Class

Methods

• __init__(core=None, cli_root=None) - Initialize CLI service
• folder(path) - Set custom CLI commands directory
• prompt(text) - Set prompt text (default: "cli")
• prompt_mode_sign(sign) - Set prompt mode sign (default: ">")
• motd(message, rich=True) - Set message of the day
• run() - Start the interactive CLI

Method Chaining

All configuration methods return self for easy chaining:

cli = (CliService()
       .folder("./my-commands")
       .prompt("myapp")
       .motd("Welcome!"))

📁 Project Structure

your-project/
├── cli/                    # Default CLI commands directory
│   ├── show/
│   ├── start.py
│   ├── stop.py
│   └── _configure/        # Configuration commands
├── main.py                # Your CLI application entry point
└── requirements.txt

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.