pathetic-cli 0.3.1

A colorful CLI that visualizes system, environment, and PATH info with Rich.

pathetic

A colorful, fast CLI to inspect your current environment: locations, system info, PATH with source tracing, Python environment, grouped environment variables, filesystem usage, and Git status. Built with Rich for delightful output and Click for a clean command-line UX.

Highlights

• Visual, readable output with sensible defaults
• Responsive columnar layout that adapts to terminal width
• PATH entries traced back to their source file (.zshrc, /etc/paths, etc.)
• Shows the user's active Python, not the tool's isolated environment
• All environment variables grouped by category (Shell, Python, Git, Cloud, etc.)

Requirements

• Python >= 3.11

Installation

Install locally (editable) while developing:

uv pip install -e .

Or install globally with uv tool:

uv tool install pathetic-cli

This exposes the ptc command.

Quickstart

Run the default, concise snapshot:

ptc

Show everything:

ptc --all

Machine-readable output:

ptc --json --all > snapshot.json

Focused views:

ptc --env                              # All env vars, grouped by category
ptc --fs                               # File system stats
ptc --env-key HOME --env-key EDITOR    # Specific env vars only
ptc --all --limit 50                   # More PATH/sys.path rows

CLI Options

ptc [OPTIONS]

Options:
  -h, --help         Show this message and exit
  --version          Show version
  --all              Show all sections
  --env              Show environment variables (grouped)
  --fs               Show file system stats
  --limit INTEGER    Max rows for PATH and sys.path (default: 25)
  --json             Output as JSON (machine-readable)
  --env-key TEXT     Show specific env vars (repeatable)

What the tool shows

• Location: Current working directory and home directory
• System: Platform, user's active Python version, architecture, executable
• Environment detection: Active virtualenv/conda/uv info shown prominently
• PATH: First N entries with source file origin and executable count (configurable with --limit)
• Python Path: First N entries of sys.path (shown with --all)
• Environment: All variables grouped by category (--env or --all)
• File System: Total, free, used, and usage percent (--fs or --all)
• Git: Branch, short commit, working state (auto-detected when in a repo)

Design philosophy

• Defaults show the most useful, actionable info quickly
• Additional details are opt-in via flags
• Clean typography and responsive layout with Rich
• PATH source tracing helps debug environment issues

Development

Install dev dependencies and run locally:

uv pip install -e .
ptc --all

Project entry point is defined in pyproject.toml:

[project.scripts]
ptc = "pathetic:main"

Troubleshooting

• Command not found after install: ensure your Python user base or pipx bin directory is on PATH.
• Missing colors or odd glyphs: use a modern terminal with UTF-8 and TrueColor support.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.