# make-cli

> Super easy declarative CLI framework with a single configuration object and a single function call.

Latest version **6.0.2** (published 2026-02-27) · MIT license · 0 weekly downloads

## Install

```sh
npm install make-cli
pnpm add make-cli
yarn add make-cli
bun add make-cli
```

## Health

**Score 70/100 (B)** — status: stable.

Positive: has types; esm support; no vulnerabilities; has provenance; high maintenance score; high quality score.

Warnings: low downloads.

## Facts

| | |
|---|---|
| Version | 6.0.2 |
| Published | 2026-02-27 |
| First published | 2019-09-25 |
| Weekly downloads | 0 |
| License | MIT |
| TypeScript types | bundled |
| Module format | ESM + CommonJS |
| Node | >=22 |
| Dependencies | 4 |
| Unpacked size | 14.2 KB |
| Known vulnerabilities | 0 |
| Install scripts | no |
| Provenance | attested (GitHub Actions) |
| GitHub stars | 9 |
| Author | Sebastian Landwehr |
| Maintainers | dword-design |
| Keywords | argument-parser, arguments, cli, command-line, command-line-interface, commander, commanderjs, declarative, declarative-programming, fp, functional, interface, node, nodejs, npm, npm-package, option, options |

## Links

- npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/make-cli
- Repository: https://github.com/dword-design/make-cli
- Homepage: https://github.com/dword-design/make-cli#readme
- Issues: https://github.com/dword-design/make-cli/issues
- Funding: https://github.com/sponsors/dword-design
- npm.io page: https://npm.io/package/make-cli

## Dependencies (4)

- [commander](https://npm.io/package/commander.md) ^14.0.3
- [lodash-es](https://npm.io/package/lodash-es.md) ^4.17.23
- [p-is-promise](https://npm.io/package/p-is-promise.md) ^4.0.0
- [@dword-design/defaults](https://npm.io/package/@dword-design/defaults.md) ^1.1.2

## Alternatives

- [@salesforce/cli](https://npm.io/package/@salesforce/cli.md) — 389.7K weekly downloads
- [@mintlify/cli](https://npm.io/package/@mintlify/cli.md) — 208.9K weekly downloads
- [@grafana/e2e-selectors](https://npm.io/package/@grafana/e2e-selectors.md) — 128.7K weekly downloads
- [mintlify](https://npm.io/package/mintlify.md) — 112.0K weekly downloads
- [@intlayer/cli](https://npm.io/package/@intlayer/cli.md) — 22.8K weekly downloads

## Recent versions

- 6.0.2 (latest) — 2026-02-27
- 6.0.1 — 2026-02-27
- 6.0.0 — 2025-12-15
- 5.0.1 — 2025-08-15
- 5.0.0 — 2025-08-15
- 4.0.8 — 2025-07-20
- 4.0.7 — 2025-07-17
- 4.0.6 — 2025-07-13
- 4.0.5 — 2025-07-13
- 4.0.4 — 2025-07-13
- 4.0.3 — 2025-07-13
- 4.0.2 — 2025-07-13
- 4.0.1 — 2025-07-13
- 4.0.0 — 2024-03-05
- 3.0.5 — 2023-07-27
- … 58 more at https://npm.io/package/make-cli/versions

## README

<!-- TITLE/ -->
# make-cli
<!-- /TITLE -->

<!-- BADGES/ -->
<p>
  <a href="https://npmjs.org/package/make-cli">
    <img
      src="https://img.shields.io/npm/v/make-cli.svg"
      alt="npm version"
    >
  </a><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/os-linux%20%7C%C2%A0macos%20%7C%C2%A0windows-blue" alt="Linux macOS Windows compatible"><a href="https://github.com/dword-design/make-cli/actions">
    <img
      src="https://github.com/dword-design/make-cli/workflows/build/badge.svg"
      alt="Build status"
    >
  </a><a href="https://codecov.io/gh/dword-design/make-cli">
    <img
      src="https://codecov.io/gh/dword-design/make-cli/branch/master/graph/badge.svg"
      alt="Coverage status"
    >
  </a><a href="https://david-dm.org/dword-design/make-cli">
    <img src="https://img.shields.io/david/dword-design/make-cli" alt="Dependency status">
  </a><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/renovate-enabled-brightgreen" alt="Renovate enabled"><br/><a href="https://gitpod.io/#https://github.com/dword-design/make-cli">
    <img
      src="https://gitpod.io/button/open-in-gitpod.svg"
      alt="Open in Gitpod"
      width="114"
    >
  </a><a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dword">
    <img
      src="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/assets/img/guidelines/download-assets-sm-2.svg"
      alt="Buy Me a Coffee"
      width="114"
    >
  </a><a href="https://paypal.me/SebastianLandwehr">
    <img
      src="https://sebastianlandwehr.com/images/paypal.svg"
      alt="PayPal"
      width="163"
    >
  </a><a href="https://www.patreon.com/dworddesign">
    <img
      src="https://sebastianlandwehr.com/images/patreon.svg"
      alt="Patreon"
      width="163"
    >
  </a>
</p>
<!-- /BADGES -->

<!-- DESCRIPTION/ -->
Super easy declarative CLI framework with a single configuration object and a single function call.
<!-- /DESCRIPTION -->

There are so many command line interface libraries around that it's hard to find the right one for your needs. But there aren't many that expose a single function with a single config object like most other Node.js packages do. That's why there is `make-cli`! Call a single function, pass a single config object and you're good to go.

Based on [Commander.js](https://github.com/tj/commander.js) and supports most of its features. In case you're missing something, feel free to open up an [issue](https://github.com/dword-design/make-cli/issues).

<!-- INSTALL/ -->
## Install

```bash
# npm
$ npm install make-cli

# Yarn
$ yarn add make-cli
```
<!-- /INSTALL -->

## Usage

Create a `.js` file with Shebang and import `make-cli`. Then configure your command line tool like so:

```js
// cli.js

#!/usr/bin/env node

import makeCli from 'make-cli'

makeCli({
  version: '0.1.0',
  name: 'my-cli',
  usage: 'Usage description here',
  arguments: '<remote> [extra]',
  options: [
    {
      name: '-y, --yes',
      description: 'Skip questions',
    },
    {
      name: '--value <value>',
      description: 'Specifies the value',
      defaultValue: 'foo',
      choices: ['foo', 'bar'],
    },
  ],
  action: (remote, extra, options) => {
    // options.value and options.yes
    // contain the options.
  },
})
```

Give it execution rights via `chmod +x cli.js`.

Then you can call it via the shell of your choice:

```bash
$ ./cli.js --yes
$ ./cli.js foo
$ ./cli.js --help
$ ./cli.js --version
```

When publishing your command line tool via NPM, you'll probably want to add the file to the [bin](https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v7/configuring-npm/package-json#bin) property, so it's installed to `node_modules/.bin`.

```json
{
  "name": "my-cli",
  "bin": "./cli.js"
}
```

### Subcommands

It is possible to define subcommands like so:

```js
makeCli({
  commands: [
    {
      name: 'push',
      description: 'Pushes to the repo',
      arguments: '<remote>',
      options: [
        {
          name: '-y, --yes',
        },
      ],
      handler: (remote, options) => { /* push the stuff */ },
    },
    {
      name: 'pull',
      // ...
    },
  ],
})
```

Then you can call it:

```bash
$ ./cli.js push origin
```

### Declaring options and commands as objects

Instead of an array you can declare options and commands as objects, which is sometimes more convenient:

```js
makeCli({
  options: [
    '-y, --yes': { description: 'Skip questions' },
    '--value <value>': {
      description: 'Specifies the value',
      defaultValue: 'foo',
      choices: ['foo', 'bar'],
    },
  ],
  commands: {
    push: {
      description: 'Pushes to the repo',
      arguments: '<remote>',
      options: [
        {
          name: '-y, --yes',
        },
      ],
      handler: (remote, options) => { /* ... */ },
    },
    pull: () => { /* ... */ },
  }
})
```

### Unknown options

You can also allow to pass unknown options, which are then available in the action like so:

```js
#!/usr/bin/env node

import makeCli from 'make-cli'

makeCli({
  // ...
  allowUnknownOption: true,
  options: [
    {
      name: '-y, --yes',
      description: 'Skip questions',
    },
  ],
  action: (options, command) => {
    // options.yes = true
    // command.args = ['--foo']
  },
})
```

If you now run `$ ./cli.js --yes --foo`, `command.args` will contain `['--foo']`.

<!-- LICENSE/ -->
## Contribute

Are you missing something or want to contribute? Feel free to file an [issue](https://github.com/dword-design/make-cli/issues) or a [pull request](https://github.com/dword-design/make-cli/pulls)! ⚙️

## Support

Hey, I am Sebastian Landwehr, a freelance web developer, and I love developing web apps and open source packages. If you want to support me so that I can keep packages up to date and build more helpful tools, you can donate here:

<p>
  <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dword">
    <img
      src="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/assets/img/guidelines/download-assets-sm-2.svg"
      alt="Buy Me a Coffee"
      width="114"
    >
  </a>&nbsp;If you want to send me a one time donation. The coffee is pretty good 😊.<br/>
  <a href="https://paypal.me/SebastianLandwehr">
    <img
      src="https://sebastianlandwehr.com/images/paypal.svg"
      alt="PayPal"
      width="163"
    >
  </a>&nbsp;Also for one time donations if you like PayPal.<br/>
  <a href="https://www.patreon.com/dworddesign">
    <img
      src="https://sebastianlandwehr.com/images/patreon.svg"
      alt="Patreon"
      width="163"
    >
  </a>&nbsp;Here you can support me regularly, which is great so I can steadily work on projects.
</p>

Thanks a lot for your support! ❤️

## License

[MIT License](https://opensource.org/license/mit/) © [Sebastian Landwehr](https://sebastianlandwehr.com)
<!-- /LICENSE -->

---
_Source: https://npm.io/package/make-cli · Machine-readable twin of the npm.io package page. Health data is recomputed on every publish._