milo-cli 0.1.1

Template-driven CLI applications for free-threaded Python

ᗣᗣ Milo

Build CLIs that humans and AI agents both use natively

from milo import CLI

cli = CLI(name="deployer", description="Deploy services to environments")

@cli.command("deploy", description="Deploy a service", annotations={"destructiveHint": True})
def deploy(environment: str, service: str, version: str = "latest") -> dict:
    """Deploy a service to the specified environment."""
    return {"status": "deployed", "environment": environment, "service": service, "version": version}

cli.run()

Three protocols from one decorator:

# Human CLI
deployer deploy --environment production --service api

# MCP tool (AI agent calls this via JSON-RPC)
echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"deploy","arguments":{"environment":"staging","service":"api"}}}' \
  | deployer --mcp

# AI-readable discovery document
deployer --llms-txt

---

What is Milo?

Milo is a Python framework where every CLI is simultaneously a terminal app, a command-line tool, and an MCP server. Write one function with type annotations and a docstring — Milo generates the argparse subcommand, the MCP tool schema, and the llms.txt entry automatically.

Why people pick it:

• Every CLI is an MCP server — @cli.command produces an argparse subcommand, MCP tool, and llms.txt entry from one function. AI agents discover and call your tools with zero extra code.
• Dual-mode commands — The same command shows an interactive UI when a human runs it, and returns structured JSON when an AI calls it via MCP.
• Annotated schemas — Type hints + Annotated constraints generate rich JSON Schema. Agents validate inputs before calling.
• Streaming progress — Commands that yield Progress objects stream notifications to MCP clients in real time.
• Elm Architecture — Immutable state, pure reducers, declarative views. Every state transition is explicit and testable.
• Free-threading ready — Built for Python 3.14t (PEP 703). Sagas run on ThreadPoolExecutor with no GIL contention.
• One runtime dependency — Just kida-templates. No click, no rich, no curses.

Use Milo For

• AI agent toolchains — Every CLI doubles as an MCP server; register multiple CLIs behind a single gateway
• Interactive CLI tools — Wizards, installers, configuration prompts, and guided workflows
• Dual-mode commands — Interactive when a human runs them, structured when an AI calls them
• Multi-screen terminal apps — Declarative flows with >> operator for screen-to-screen navigation
• Forms and data collection — Text, select, confirm, and password fields with validation
• Dev tools with hot reload — milo dev watches templates and live-reloads on change
• Session recording and replay — Record user sessions to JSONL, replay for debugging or CI regression tests

---

Installation

pip install milo-cli

The PyPI package is milo-cli; import the milo namespace in Python. The milo console command is installed with the package.

Requires Python 3.14+

---

Quick Start

AI-Native CLI

Function	Description
CLI(name, description, version)	Create a CLI application
@cli.command(name, description)	Register a typed command
cli.group(name, description)	Create a command group
cli.run()	Parse args and dispatch
cli.call("cmd", **kwargs)	Programmatic invocation
--mcp	Run as MCP server
--llms-txt	Generate AI discovery doc
--mcp-install	Register in gateway
annotations={...}	MCP behavioral hints
Annotated[str, MinLen(1)]	Schema constraints

Interactive Apps

Function	Description
App(template, reducer, initial_state)	Create a single-screen app
App.from_flow(flow)	Create a multi-screen app from a Flow
form(*specs)	Run an interactive form, return {field: value}
FlowScreen(name, template, reducer)	Define a named screen
flow = screen_a >> screen_b	Chain screens into a flow
ctx.run_app(reducer, template, state)	Bridge CLI commands to interactive apps
quit_on, with_cursor, with_confirm	Reducer combinator decorators
Cmd(fn), Batch(cmds), Sequence(cmds)	Side effects on thread pool
ViewState(cursor_visible=True, ...)	Declarative terminal state
DevServer(app, watch_dirs)	Hot-reload dev server

---

Features

Feature	Description	Docs
MCP Server	Every CLI doubles as an MCP server — AI agents discover and call commands via JSON-RPC	MCP →
MCP Gateway	Single gateway aggregates all registered Milo CLIs for unified AI agent access	MCP →
Tool Annotations	Declare readOnlyHint, destructiveHint, idempotentHint per MCP spec	MCP →
Streaming Progress	Commands yield Progress objects; MCP clients receive real-time notifications	MCP →
Schema Constraints	Annotated[str, MinLen(1), MaxLen(100)] generates rich JSON Schema	CLI →
llms.txt	Generate AI-readable discovery documents from CLI command definitions	llms.txt →
Middleware	Intercept MCP calls and CLI commands for logging, auth, and transformation	CLI →
Observability	Built-in request logging with latency stats (milo://stats resource)	MCP →
State Management	Redux-style Store with dispatch, listeners, middleware, and saga scheduling	State →
Commands	Lightweight Cmd thunks, Batch, Sequence, TickCmd for one-shot effects	Commands →
Sagas	Generator-based side effects: Call, Put, Select, Fork, Delay, Retry	Sagas →
ViewState	Declarative terminal state (cursor_visible, alt_screen, window_title, mouse_mode)	Commands →
Flows	Multi-screen state machines with >> operator and custom transitions	Flows →
Forms	Text, select, confirm, password fields with validation and TTY fallback	Forms →
Input Handling	Cross-platform key reader with full escape sequence support (arrows, F-keys, modifiers)	Input →
Templates	Kida-powered terminal rendering with built-in form, field, help, and progress templates	Templates →
Dev Server	milo dev with filesystem polling and @@HOT_RELOAD dispatch	Dev →
Session Recording	JSONL action log with state hashes for debugging and regression testing	Testing →
Snapshot Testing	assert_renders, assert_state, assert_saga for deterministic test coverage	Testing →
Help Rendering	HelpRenderer — drop-in argparse.HelpFormatter using Kida templates	Help →
Context	Execution context with verbosity, output format, global options, and run_app() bridge	Context →
Configuration	Config with validation, init scaffolding, and profile support	Config →
Shell Completions	Generate bash/zsh/fish completions from CLI definitions	CLI →
Doctor Diagnostics	run_doctor() validates environment, dependencies, and config health	CLI →

---

Usage

Dual-Mode Commands — Interactive for humans, structured for AI

from milo import CLI, Context, Action, Quit, SpecialKey
from milo.streaming import Progress
from typing import Annotated
from milo import MinLen

cli = CLI(name="deployer", description="Deploy services")

@cli.command("deploy", description="Deploy a service", annotations={"destructiveHint": True})
def deploy(
    environment: Annotated[str, MinLen(1)],
    service: Annotated[str, MinLen(1)],
    ctx: Context = None,
) -> dict:
    """Deploy a service to an environment."""
    # Interactive mode: show confirmation UI
    if ctx and ctx.is_interactive:
        if not ctx.confirm(f"Deploy {service} to {environment}?"):
            return {"status": "cancelled"}

    # Stream progress (MCP clients see real-time notifications)
    yield Progress(status=f"Deploying {service}", step=0, total=2)
    yield Progress(status="Verifying health", step=1, total=2)

    return {"status": "deployed", "environment": environment, "service": service}

Run by a human: interactive confirmation, then progress output. Called via MCP: progress notifications stream, then structured JSON result.

MCP Server & Gateway — AI agent integration

Every Milo CLI is automatically an MCP server:

# Run as MCP server (stdin/stdout JSON-RPC)
myapp --mcp

# Register with an AI host directly
claude mcp add myapp -- uv run python examples/deploy/app.py --mcp

For multiple CLIs, register them and run a single gateway:

# Register CLIs
taskman --mcp-install
deployer --mcp-install

# Run the unified gateway
uv run python -m milo.gateway --mcp

# Or register the gateway with your AI host
claude mcp add milo -- uv run python -m milo.gateway --mcp

The gateway namespaces tools automatically: taskman.add, deployer.deploy, etc. Implements MCP 2025-11-25 with outputSchema, structuredContent, tool annotations, and streaming Progress notifications.

Built-in milo://stats resource exposes request latency, error counts, and throughput.

Schema Constraints — Rich validation from type hints

from typing import Annotated
from milo import CLI, MinLen, MaxLen, Gt, Lt, Pattern, Description

cli = CLI(name="app")

@cli.command("create-user", description="Create a user account")
def create_user(
    name: Annotated[str, MinLen(1), MaxLen(100), Description("Full name")],
    age: Annotated[int, Gt(0), Lt(200)],
    email: Annotated[str, Pattern(r"^[^@]+@[^@]+$")],
) -> dict:
    return {"name": name, "age": age, "email": email}

Generates JSON Schema with minLength, maxLength, exclusiveMinimum, exclusiveMaximum, pattern, and description — AI agents validate inputs before calling.

Single-Screen App — Counter with keyboard input

from milo import App, Action

def reducer(state, action):
    if state is None:
        return {"count": 0}
    if action.type == "@@KEY" and action.payload.char == " ":
        return {**state, "count": state["count"] + 1}
    return state

app = App(template="counter.kida", reducer=reducer, initial_state=None)
final_state = app.run()

counter.kida:

Count: {{ count }}

Press SPACE to increment, Ctrl+C to quit.

Multi-Screen Flow — Chain screens with >>

from milo import App
from milo.flow import FlowScreen

welcome = FlowScreen("welcome", "welcome.kida", welcome_reducer)
config = FlowScreen("config", "config.kida", config_reducer)
confirm = FlowScreen("confirm", "confirm.kida", confirm_reducer)

flow = welcome >> config >> confirm
app = App.from_flow(flow)
app.run()

Navigate between screens by dispatching @@NAVIGATE actions from your reducers. Add custom transitions with flow.with_transition("welcome", "confirm", on="@@SKIP").

Interactive Forms — Collect structured input

from milo import form, FieldSpec, FieldType

result = form(
    FieldSpec("name", "Your name"),
    FieldSpec("env", "Environment", field_type=FieldType.SELECT,
              choices=("dev", "staging", "prod")),
    FieldSpec("confirm", "Deploy?", field_type=FieldType.CONFIRM),
)
# result = {"name": "Alice", "env": "prod", "confirm": True}

Tab/Shift+Tab navigates fields. Arrow keys cycle select options. Falls back to plain input() prompts when stdin is not a TTY.

Sagas — Generator-based side effects

from milo import Call, Put, Select, ReducerResult

def fetch_saga():
    url = yield Select(lambda s: s["url"])
    data = yield Call(fetch_json, (url,))
    yield Put(Action("FETCH_DONE", payload=data))

def reducer(state, action):
    if action.type == "@@KEY" and action.payload.char == "f":
        return ReducerResult({**state, "loading": True}, sagas=(fetch_saga,))
    if action.type == "FETCH_DONE":
        return {**state, "loading": False, "data": action.payload}
    return state

Saga effects: Call(fn, args), Put(action), Select(selector), Fork(saga), Delay(seconds), Retry(fn, ...).

For one-shot effects, use Cmd instead — no generator needed:

from milo import Cmd, ReducerResult

def fetch_status():
    return Action("STATUS", payload=urllib.request.urlopen(url).status)

def reducer(state, action):
    if action.type == "CHECK":
        return ReducerResult(state, cmds=(Cmd(fetch_status),))
    return state

Testing Utilities — Snapshot, state, and saga assertions

from milo.testing import assert_renders, assert_state, assert_saga
from milo import Action, Call

# Snapshot test: render state through template, compare to file
assert_renders({"count": 5}, "counter.kida", snapshot="tests/snapshots/count_5.txt")

# Reducer test: feed actions, assert final state
assert_state(reducer, None, [Action("@@INIT"), Action("INCREMENT")], {"count": 1})

# Saga test: step through generator, assert each yielded effect
assert_saga(my_saga(), [(Call(fetch, ("url",), {}), {"data": 42})])

Set MILO_UPDATE_SNAPSHOTS=1 to regenerate snapshot files.

---

Architecture

Elm Architecture — Model-View-Update loop

                    ┌──────────────┐
                    │   Terminal    │
                    │   (View)     │
                    └──────┬───────┘
                           │ Key events
                           ▼
┌──────────┐    ┌──────────────────┐    ┌──────────────┐
│  Kida    │◄───│      Store       │◄───│   Reducer    │
│ Template │    │  (State Tree)    │    │  (Pure fn)   │
└──────────┘    └──────────┬───────┘    └──────────────┘
                           │
                           ▼
                    ┌──────────────┐
                    │    Sagas     │
                    │ (Side Effects│
                    │  on ThreadPool)
                    └──────────────┘

1. Model — Immutable state (plain dicts or frozen dataclasses)
2. View — Kida templates render state to terminal output
3. Update — Pure reducer(state, action) -> state functions
4. Effects — Cmd thunks (one-shot) or generator-based sagas (multi-step) on ThreadPoolExecutor

Event Loop — App lifecycle

App.run()
  ├── Store(reducer, initial_state)
  ├── KeyReader (raw mode, escape sequences → Key objects)
  ├── TerminalRenderer (alternate screen buffer, flicker-free updates)
  ├── Optional: tick thread (@@TICK at interval)
  ├── Optional: SIGWINCH handler (@@RESIZE)
  └── Loop:
        read key → dispatch @@KEY → reducer → re-render
        until state.submitted or @@QUIT

Builtin Actions — Event vocabulary

Action	Trigger	Payload
@@INIT	Store creation	—
@@KEY	Keyboard input	Key(char, name, ctrl, alt, shift)
@@TICK	Timer interval	—
@@RESIZE	Terminal resize	(cols, rows)
@@NAVIGATE	Screen transition	screen_name
@@HOT_RELOAD	Template file change	file_path
@@EFFECT_RESULT	Saga completion	result
@@QUIT	Ctrl+C	—

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Documentation

Section	Description
Get Started	Installation and quickstart
MCP & AI	MCP server, gateway, annotations, streaming, and llms.txt
Usage	State, sagas, flows, forms, templates
Testing	Snapshots, recording, replay
Reference	Complete API documentation

---

Development

git clone https://github.com/lbliii/milo-cli.git
cd milo-cli
# Uses Python 3.14t by default (.python-version)
uv sync --group dev --python 3.14t
PYTHON_GIL=0 uv run --python 3.14t pytest tests/
make ci   # optional: ruff + ty + tests with coverage

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The Bengal Ecosystem

A structured reactive stack — every layer written in pure Python for 3.14t free-threading.

ᓚᘏᗢ	Bengal	Static site generator	Docs
∿∿	Purr	Content runtime	—
⌁⌁	Chirp	Web framework	Docs
=^..^=	Pounce	ASGI server	Docs
)彡	Kida	Template engine	Docs
ฅᨐฅ	Patitas	Markdown parser	Docs
⌾⌾⌾	Rosettes	Syntax highlighter	Docs
ᗣᗣ	Milo (PyPI: milo-cli)	CLI framework ← You are here	Docs

Python-native. Free-threading ready. No npm required.

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License

MIT License — see LICENSE for details.