CLI Design Guidelines

Use this skill when designing, reviewing, or refactoring command-line tools or scripts. Emphasize human-first UX, composability, clear help/output/error behaviors, and predictable flags/subcommands.

Source & Attribution

Based on the Command Line Interface Guidelines (clig.dev) and the Chinese translation at clig.onev.dev. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Include attribution when copying or adapting text.

When to Use

• Designing a new CLI or script interface
• Adding flags, subcommands, config, or env support
• Improving help, output, and error messages
• Making tools more composable in shell pipelines
• Reducing ambiguity and surprises in CLI UX

Design Philosophy (Condensed)