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Creating a Node.js CLI and Publish

Written by

Akshay Gore

|

Software Engineer - I

Published on

Mar 2, 2024

Technology

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TL;DR

Create a fun Node.js CLI app by setting up a project folder, adding an index.js with a Node shebang, and using libraries like figlet, chalk, and chalk-animation to style and animate console output. Test it locally with node index.js, then update package.json, publish to npm, and run it globally via the command name you defined.

Introduction

Would you like to create a CLI (Command Line Interface) application with your friends? Follow these steps to get started:

Create a new directory for your CLI app

 mkdir cli-app
 cd cli-app
 npm init

 mkdir cli-app
 cd cli-app
 npm init

Install the necessary packages for beautiful text and colors

 npm install chalk chalk-animation figlet

 npm install chalk chalk-animation figlet

Create a new file named index.js

touch index.js
Add the following line at the top of the index.js file

The line #!/usr/bin/env node at the beginning of a JavaScript file is called a shebang line. It instructs the system to

use the Node.js interpreter to run the script.

 #!/usr/bin/env node

 #!/usr/bin/env node

Create an Immediately Invoked Function Expression (IIFE) to begin the script. Let's start by using Figlet

 (async () => {
     await figlet.text(
         "Hey There",
         {
             font: "Standard",
             horizontalLayout: "default",
             verticalLayout: "default",
             width: 70,
             whitespaceBreak: true,
         },
         function (err, data) {
             if (err) {
                 console.log("Something went wrong...");
                 console.dir(err);
                 return;
             }
             console.log(data);
         }
     );
 })();
 // Figlet offers extensive documentation for further customization.

 (async () => {
     await figlet.text(
         "Hey There",
         {
             font: "Standard",
             horizontalLayout: "default",
             verticalLayout: "default",
             width: 70,
             whitespaceBreak: true,
         },
         function (err, data) {
             if (err) {
                 console.log("Something went wrong...");
                 console.dir(err);
                 return;
             }
             console.log(data);
         }
     );
 })();
 // Figlet offers extensive documentation for further customization.

Now, let's utilize chalk with simple console.log() statements and template literals to customize the console logs

 let Github = "https://github.com/Akshaygore1";
 let Linkedin = "https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshaygore2301/";
 let Portfolio = "https://akshaygore.tech";
 let bio = `My name is ${chalk.bold.cyan(
     "Akshay Gore"
 )}. I am a Full Stack Developer proficient in ${chalk.yellow(
     "JavaScript"
 )} and ${chalk.blue("TypeScript")}.`;

 console.log(`\n${bio}`);
 console.log("\nYou Can Connect with me here:");
 console.log(chalk.cyan("GitHub:"), Github);
 console.log(chalk.cyan("LinkedIn:"), Linkedin);
 console.log(chalk.cyan("Portfolio:"), Portfolio);

 // Here, I've added my socials links and used chalk to provide font colors. 
 // You can also set background colors using chalk.

 let Github = "https://github.com/Akshaygore1";
 let Linkedin = "https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshaygore2301/";
 let Portfolio = "https://akshaygore.tech";
 let bio = `My name is ${chalk.bold.cyan(
     "Akshay Gore"
 )}. I am a Full Stack Developer proficient in ${chalk.yellow(
     "JavaScript"
 )} and ${chalk.blue("TypeScript")}.`;

 console.log(`\n${bio}`);
 console.log("\nYou Can Connect with me here:");
 console.log(chalk.cyan("GitHub:"), Github);
 console.log(chalk.cyan("LinkedIn:"), Linkedin);
 console.log(chalk.cyan("Portfolio:"), Portfolio);

 // Here, I've added my socials links and used chalk to provide font colors. 
 // You can also set background colors using chalk.

Now, let's add some animation using chalk-animation for the closing words

 let rainbow = chalkAnimation.rainbow(
     `
             Thank you for checking out my CLI application!`
 );
 // This part creates an animation effect for the closing words using chalk-animation. 

 await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 5000));
 // Adjust the time delay as needed.
 rainbow.stop();

 let rainbow = chalkAnimation.rainbow(
     `
             Thank you for checking out my CLI application!`
 );
 // This part creates an animation effect for the closing words using chalk-animation. 

 await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 5000));
 // Adjust the time delay as needed.
 rainbow.stop();

Run node index.js to see the changes in the UI.
Finally, to publish your package to npm, make changes in package.json

 "bin": {
     "app-name": "index.js"
 }

 // Create an npm account and run

 npm login

 // then after login just run npm publish

 npm publish

 "bin": {
     "app-name": "index.js"
 }

 // Create an npm account and run

 npm login

 // then after login just run npm publish

 npm publish

Once your package is published, you can run the command using the name specified in package.json. For instance, in my case, it's akshaygore, so I would run:

npx akshaygore

npx akshaygore

Summary

And there you go! You have your CLI bio ready to share with your friends. If you encounter any issues during the creation process, feel free to run the above command and connect with me on social media. I'm happy to assist you!

Your feedback on my blog is much appreciated. Let me know how I can improve it further!

Introduction

Would you like to create a CLI (Command Line Interface) application with your friends? Follow these steps to get started:

Create a new directory for your CLI app

 mkdir cli-app
 cd cli-app
 npm init

Install the necessary packages for beautiful text and colors

 npm install chalk chalk-animation figlet

Create a new file named index.js

touch index.js
Add the following line at the top of the index.js file

The line #!/usr/bin/env node at the beginning of a JavaScript file is called a shebang line. It instructs the system to

use the Node.js interpreter to run the script.

 #!/usr/bin/env node

Create an Immediately Invoked Function Expression (IIFE) to begin the script. Let's start by using Figlet

 (async () => {
     await figlet.text(
         "Hey There",
         {
             font: "Standard",
             horizontalLayout: "default",
             verticalLayout: "default",
             width: 70,
             whitespaceBreak: true,
         },
         function (err, data) {
             if (err) {
                 console.log("Something went wrong...");
                 console.dir(err);
                 return;
             }
             console.log(data);
         }
     );
 })();
 // Figlet offers extensive documentation for further customization.

Now, let's utilize chalk with simple console.log() statements and template literals to customize the console logs

 let Github = "https://github.com/Akshaygore1";
 let Linkedin = "https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshaygore2301/";
 let Portfolio = "https://akshaygore.tech";
 let bio = `My name is ${chalk.bold.cyan(
     "Akshay Gore"
 )}. I am a Full Stack Developer proficient in ${chalk.yellow(
     "JavaScript"
 )} and ${chalk.blue("TypeScript")}.`;

 console.log(`\n${bio}`);
 console.log("\nYou Can Connect with me here:");
 console.log(chalk.cyan("GitHub:"), Github);
 console.log(chalk.cyan("LinkedIn:"), Linkedin);
 console.log(chalk.cyan("Portfolio:"), Portfolio);

 // Here, I've added my socials links and used chalk to provide font colors. 
 // You can also set background colors using chalk.

Now, let's add some animation using chalk-animation for the closing words

 let rainbow = chalkAnimation.rainbow(
     `
             Thank you for checking out my CLI application!`
 );
 // This part creates an animation effect for the closing words using chalk-animation. 

 await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 5000));
 // Adjust the time delay as needed.
 rainbow.stop();

Run node index.js to see the changes in the UI.
Finally, to publish your package to npm, make changes in package.json

 "bin": {
     "app-name": "index.js"
 }

 // Create an npm account and run

 npm login

 // then after login just run npm publish

 npm publish

Once your package is published, you can run the command using the name specified in package.json. For instance, in my case, it's akshaygore, so I would run:

npx akshaygore

Summary

Your feedback on my blog is much appreciated. Let me know how I can improve it further!

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