pcli – Project Creation CLI

A fast, extensible, interactive CLI for creating and bootstrapping development projects.

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⭐ What is pcli?

pcli is an interactive TUI-based project generator built with Bubble Tea, designed to:

• Create projects for multiple languages (Go supported now, more coming)
• Detect or install required language runtimes (Linux: apt, dnf, pacman)
• Scaffold post-create resources (global files & language‑specific folders)
• Use a fully plugin‑driven architecture for maximum extensibility

It is meant to be your central command for starting new projects the same way every time, but without the constraints of template systems.

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🚀 Features

✔️ Interactive Bubble Tea Wizard

• Arrow‑key navigation
• Space to toggle
• Real‑time logs during installation
• Output‑driven progress bar
• Clean UX and clear steps

✔️ Project Creation Plugins

Each project type is implemented as a plugin under:

internal/projecttype/<type>/

Example: Go plugin

• Detects if Go is installed
• If missing: prompts the user and installs Go
• Creates the project folder using actual Go commands:

go mod init <module>
go mod tidy

✔️ Post‑Create Plugins

Run immediately after the project is created.

Two kinds:

1. Global additions
   • .env
   • notes/
2. Type‑specific scaffolding
   • Go: cmd/, internal/, pkg/

Plugins live under:

internal/postplugin/

✔️ Automatic Linux Language Installation

Supported package managers:

• apt (Debian / Ubuntu)
• dnf (Fedora / RHEL)
• pacman (Arch / Manjaro)

Logs are streamed in real‑time into the UI.

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📁 Project Structure

pcli/
├── cmd/pcli/
│   └── main.go                # Entrypoint
│
├── internal/
│   ├── plugins/               # Project creation plugin loader
│   ├── projecttype/
│   │   └── go/                # Go project creator plugin
│   │       └── plugin.go
│   │
│   ├── postplugin/            # Post-create plugin system
│   │   ├── plugin.go
│   │   ├── register_all.go
│   │   └── global/
│   │       └── global.go      # Global + type-specific folder creator
│   │
│   ├── langenv/               # Language installation checker
│   │   └── langenv.go
│   │
│   └── ui/                    # Root UI screens (type chooser)
│
└── README.md

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⚙️ Configuration (.env)

Defaults for project paths and module names:

DEFAULT_GO_PROJECT_MODULE_PATH=github.com/$USER/myservice
DEFAULT_GO_PROJECT_PATH=$HOME/Documents/projects

Environment variables like $HOME, $USER and ~/… are automatically expanded.

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🧪 Usage

Run the CLI

go run ./cmd/pcli

This is destined for development use. For production, see the install section below.

Install the CLI

sudo make install

This will build and copy the pcli binary to the path present in the Makefile $GOBIN variable (default: /usr/local/go/bin).

Steps

1. Choose the project type
2. Enter module path (for Go)
3. Confirm summary
4. If Go missing → decide whether to install
5. After project creation → post-create plugin runs
6. Choose global and language-specific files/folders
7. pcli applies everything and exits

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🧱 Architecture Overview

    ┌───────────────────────┐
    │  Type Chooser (TUI)   │
    └───────────┬───────────┘
                │
                ▼
     ┌──────────────────────┐
     │ ProjectType Plugin   │  (Go, TS, Terraform…)
     └──────────┬───────────┘
                │ creates project
                ▼
     ┌──────────────────────┐
     │  PostCreate Plugins  │  (global + type-specific)
     └──────────┬───────────┘
                │ scaffolds files
                ▼
       Project ready to use!

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🛣️ Roadmap

• Node/TypeScript plugin
• Terraform plugin
• Git initializer plugin
• CI/CD plugin (GitHub Actions)
• “Language Manager” tool (install runtimes anytime)
• Plugin metadata system
• Automatic project templates for frameworks

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📜 License

MIT License

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❤️ Contributing

Contributions welcome!
The plugin architecture is intentionally simple so you can easily:

• Add a new language
• Add new scaffolding actions
• Add new post-create plugins
• Add new installation routines

Just open an issue or PR.