cli

create-tui

A CLI tool for creating OpenTUI projects from templates.

Installation

# Use with bun (no installation required)
bun create tui my-tui-project

What It Does

When you run create-tui, the CLI performs the following steps:

1. Template Validation — Validates the template exists on GitHub
2. Project Directory Setup — Creates the project directory (or prompts to delete if it already exists)
3. Template Download — Downloads the selected template from GitHub
4. Package Configuration — Updates package.json with your project name
5. Dependency Installation — Installs all dependencies using your package manager
6. Git Initialization — Optionally initializes a git repository
7. Update Check — Checks for newer versions and notifies you if an update is available

Usage

Interactive Mode

bun create tui

This will prompt you for:

• Project name
• Template choice (Core, React, Solid, or Custom)

With Arguments

# Create a React project
bun create tui -t react my-react-app

# Create a Core project
bun create tui -t core my-core-app

# Create a Solid project
bun create tui -t solid my-solid-app

Template Formats

The CLI supports three formats for specifying templates:

1. Aliases (Built-in Templates)

Simple names for the official templates:

bun create tui -t core my-project
bun create tui -t react my-project
bun create tui -t solid my-project

2. Shorthand (owner/repo)

Use any GitHub repository with a shorthand syntax:

# Use a repository root as template
bun create tui -t username/my-template my-project

# Use a nested directory within a repository
bun create tui -t username/repo/path/to/template my-project

3. Full GitHub URL

For maximum clarity or when you need to specify a branch:

# Repository root
bun create tui -t https://github.com/username/repo my-project

# Specific branch and path
bun create tui -t https://github.com/username/repo/tree/main/templates/starter my-project

# With verbose output to see detailed progress
bun create tui -t https://github.com/username/repo -v my-project

All templates must have a package.json file at the template root.

Available Templates

Built-in Templates (Aliases)

Alias	Description
core	OpenTUI project with core functionality
react	OpenTUI project with React integration
solid	OpenTUI project with Solid.js integration

Custom Templates

Any public GitHub repository can be used as a template. Use either shorthand (owner/repo/path) or full GitHub URLs.

Arguments

Argument	Description	Required
project-name	The folder to bootstrap the project in	No

Options

Option	Alias	Description
--template	-t	Template: alias (core, react, solid), shorthand (owner/repo), or GitHub URL
--no-git		Skip initializing a git repository
--no-install		Skip installing dependencies
--verbose	-v	Show detailed progress during template validation and download
--help	-h	Show help information
--version		Show version number

Update Notifications

The CLI automatically checks for newer versions after each run. If an update is available, you'll see a notification with the command to update:

Update available! 1.0.0 -> 1.1.0
Run bun add -g create-tui@latest to update

This check is non-blocking and times out after 3 seconds to avoid slowing down the CLI.

Development

# Install dependencies
bun install

# Run in development mode
bun run dev

# Build for production
bun run build

License

MIT