CLIs for Humans

[southpolesteve]

node makes building CLI tools super easy! It does not, however, make it any easier to remember the difference between the "-X" and "-x" flag at 2am when production has been down for an hour.

But it doesn't have to be this way! CLI tools can be fun and friendly for humans too! I'll show you some best practices as well as several npm packages that will help you write rock solid, error tolerant, human friendly CLI tools. Spoiler Alert: machines will also love using your human friendly CLI tools. Everyone wins!