Claude-skill-registry CLI Design

Design patterns and conventions for the vm0 CLI user experience

install

source · Clone the upstream repo

git clone https://github.com/majiayu000/claude-skill-registry

Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/

T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/majiayu000/claude-skill-registry "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/skills/data/cli-design" ~/.claude/skills/majiayu000-claude-skill-registry-cli-design && rm -rf "$T"

manifest: skills/data/cli-design/SKILL.md

source content

CLI Design Skill

This skill defines the design patterns and conventions for the vm0 CLI. These patterns ensure a consistent, professional user experience across all commands.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

Writing new CLI commands
Reviewing CLI code in pull requests
Fixing inconsistencies in existing commands
Understanding CLI output conventions

Quick Reference

Symbols

Symbol	Color	Usage
`✓`	`chalk.green`	Success, completion
`✗`	`chalk.red`	Error, failure
`⚠`	`chalk.yellow`	Warning, deprecation
`▶`	`chalk.bold`	Operation started

Colors

Color	Usage	Example
`chalk.red()`	Errors	`✗ Not authenticated`
`chalk.green()`	Success	`✓ Created successfully`
`chalk.yellow()`	Warnings	`⚠ Field deprecated`
`chalk.cyan()`	Commands, code	`vm0 auth login`
`chalk.dim()`	Secondary info	Timestamps, hints
`chalk.bold()`	Headers	`▶ Run started`

Message Patterns

// Success
console.log(chalk.green(`✓ Created: ${name}`));

// Error
console.error(chalk.red(`✗ Not found: ${name}`));
console.error(chalk.dim("  Run: vm0 auth login"));

// Warning
console.log(chalk.yellow(`⚠ Field deprecated`));

// Empty state
console.log(chalk.dim("No items found"));

// Commands/code examples
console.log(chalk.cyan("  vm0 compose <file>"));

The Five Rules

1. Use Unicode Symbols, Not ASCII

// ✅ Correct
console.error(chalk.red("✗ Failed"));
console.log(chalk.green("✓ Success"));

// ❌ Wrong
console.error(chalk.red("x Failed"));
console.error(chalk.red("Error: Failed"));

2. Two-Space Indentation for Details

console.error(chalk.red("✗ Operation failed"));
console.error(chalk.dim("  Details here"));      // 2 spaces
console.error(chalk.dim("  Run: vm0 help"));     // 2 spaces

3. No Periods in Messages

// ✅ Correct
console.log(chalk.dim("No items found"));
console.log(chalk.dim("Cancelled"));

// ❌ Wrong
console.log(chalk.dim("No items found."));
console.log(chalk.dim("Cancelled."));

4. Use Shared Utilities

// ✅ Correct - use shared utilities
import { formatBytes } from "../../lib/utils/file-utils";
import { promptConfirm } from "../../lib/utils/prompt-utils";

// ❌ Wrong - local implementations
function formatBytes(bytes: number) { ... }  // Duplicate!

5. Check Interactive Mode

import { isInteractive, promptText } from "../../lib/utils/prompt-utils";

if (options.name) {
  name = options.name;
} else if (!isInteractive()) {
  console.error(chalk.red("✗ --name required in non-interactive mode"));
  process.exit(1);
} else {
  name = await promptText("Enter name");
}

Detailed Guidelines

For comprehensive patterns and examples:

Colors & Symbols → Read
```
colors.md
```
Output Formatting → Read
```
output.md
```
Interactive Prompts → Read
```
prompts.md
```
Error Handling → Read
```
errors.md
```
Tables → Read
```
tables.md
```

Common Violations

Wrong Error Symbol

// ❌ Wrong (lowercase x)
console.error(chalk.red("x Invalid input"));
console.error(chalk.red("Error: Invalid input"));

// ✅ Correct (Unicode ✗)
console.error(chalk.red("✗ Invalid input"));

Wrong Success Format

// ❌ Wrong
console.log(chalk.green("Done Created item"));

// ✅ Correct
console.log(chalk.green("✓ Created item"));

Custom Confirmation

// ❌ Wrong - custom readline
const rl = readline.createInterface({ ... });
rl.question("Confirm? (y/N)", (answer) => { ... });

// ✅ Correct - use shared utility
import { promptConfirm } from "../../lib/utils/prompt-utils";
const confirmed = await promptConfirm("Confirm?");

Duplicate Utilities

// ❌ Wrong - local formatBytes
function formatBytes(bytes: number): string {
  // ... implementation
}

// ✅ Correct - import shared
import { formatBytes } from "../../lib/utils/file-utils";