cli-form (0.1.1)

Published 2026-04-18 10:08:19 -07:00 by yjx

Setup this registry in the Cargo configuration file (for example ~/.cargo/config.toml):

[registry]
default = "forgejo"

[registries.forgejo]
index = "sparse+" # Sparse index
# index = "" # Git

[net]
git-fetch-with-cli = true

To install the package using Cargo, run the following command:

cargo add cli-form@0.1.1

For more information on the Cargo registry, see the documentation.

Interactive inline terminal form.

cli-form

An interactive inline terminal form. Reads a form spec from stdin, renders an editable form inline in the terminal (like fzf), and writes the result as JSON or NUON to stdout.

── Create Repository ───────────────────────────
> Name:           my-project
  Description:    A cool project
  Visibility:     ● public  ○ private
  Add README:     [x]
─────────────────────────────────────────────────
  ↑/↓ navigate   ⏎ edit   Tab submit   Esc cancel

Why

Sequential CLI prompts (gh repo create, npm init, etc.) are linear and destructive — once you answer question 3 you can't go back to question 1 without Ctrl+C and starting over.

cli-form shows all fields at once and lets you navigate freely before submitting.

Install

cargo install --path .

Usage

Pipe a JSON form spec to stdin:

echo '[
  {"name": "repo",       "type": "text",    "label": "Repository name", "default": "my-project"},
  {"name": "visibility", "type": "select",  "label": "Visibility",      "options": ["public", "private"], "default": "public"},
  {"name": "readme",     "type": "confirm", "label": "Add README",      "default": true}
]' | cli-form --title "Create Repository"

Output (stdout):

{
  "repo": "my-project",
  "visibility": "public",
  "readme": true
}

Field Types

Type	Edit behavior
`text`	Inline readline-style editing
`select`	Left/Right to cycle through options
`multi_select`	Left/Right to move, Space to toggle
`confirm`	Space or Enter to toggle

Form spec schema

[
  {
    "name":    "field_key",
    "type":    "text | select | multi_select | confirm",
    "label":   "Display label",
    "options": ["opt1", "opt2"],
    "default": "opt1"
  }
]

options is required for select and multi_select. default is optional for all types.

Two modes, like vi:

Browse mode (default): ↑/↓ move between fields, Enter enters Edit mode, Tab submits, Esc cancels.
Edit mode: field-specific keys (see table above). Esc returns to Browse mode.

Options

--title <TEXT>         Form title shown in the header bar (default: "Form")
--schema <FILE>        Read form spec from a file instead of stdin
--format <json|nuon>   Output format (default: json)
--height <N>           Max terminal lines to occupy (default: field count + 2)

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
`0`	Form submitted — result on stdout
`1`	User cancelled with Esc

Usage from Nushell

let spec = [
  {name: "repo",       type: "text",    label: "Repository name", default: ($env.PWD | path basename)}
  {name: "visibility", type: "select",  label: "Visibility",      options: ["public" "private"], default: "public"}
  {name: "license",    type: "select",  label: "License",         options: ["MIT" "Apache-2.0" "GPL-3.0" "None"], default: "MIT"}
  {name: "readme",     type: "confirm", label: "Add README",      default: true}
]

let result = $spec | to json | cli-form --title "Create Repository" | from json

gh repo create $result.repo --($result.visibility) --license $result.license

Or use --format nuon to skip the from json step:

let result = $spec | to json | cli-form --title "Create Repository" --format nuon | from nuon

Usage from Bash

result=$(cat <<'EOF' | cli-form --title "Create Repository"
[
  {"name": "repo",       "type": "text",   "label": "Repository name", "default": "my-project"},
  {"name": "visibility", "type": "select", "label": "Visibility",      "options": ["public", "private"], "default": "public"}
]
EOF
)

gh repo create "$(echo "$result" | jq -r .repo)" --"$(echo "$result" | jq -r .visibility)"

Environment

Variable	Effect
`NO_COLOR`	Disables all ANSI styling (no-color.org)

ID	Version
anyhow	^1
clap	^4
crossterm	^0.29
libc	^0.2
serde	^1
serde_json	^1
vim-line	^5.5.0
insta	^1
proptest	^1
tempfile	^3

Details

Cargo

2026-04-18 10:08:19 -07:00

45 KiB

Assets (1)

cli-form-0.1.1.crate 45 KiB

Versions (1) View all

0.1.1

2026-04-18