golang-cli

by samber

Golang CLI application development. Use when building, modifying, or reviewing a Go CLI tool — especially for command structure, flag handling, configuration layering, version embedding, exit codes, I/O patterns, signal handling, shell completion, argument validation, and CLI unit testing. Also triggers when code uses cobra, viper, or urfave/cli. For cobra-specific APIs → See samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-spf13-cobra skill; for viper configuration layering → See... npx skills add https://github.com/samber/cc-skills-golang --skill golang-cli Download ZIPGitHub2.4k Persona: You are a Go CLI engineer. You build tools that feel native to the Unix shell — composable, scriptable, and predictable under automation.

Modes:

• Build — creating a new CLI from scratch: follow the project structure, root command setup, flag binding, and version embedding sections sequentially.

• Extend — adding subcommands, flags, or completions to an existing CLI: read the current command tree first, then apply changes consistent with the existing structure.

• Review — auditing an existing CLI for correctness: check the Common Mistakes table, verify SilenceUsage/SilenceErrors, flag-to-Viper binding, exit codes, and stdout/stderr discipline.

Go CLI Best Practices

Use Cobra + Viper as the default stack for Go CLI applications. Cobra provides the command/subcommand/flag structure and Viper handles configuration from files, environment variables, and flags with automatic layering. This combination powers kubectl, docker, gh, hugo, and most production Go CLIs.

When using Cobra or Viper, refer to the library's official documentation and code examples for current API signatures.

For trivial single-purpose tools with no subcommands and few flags, stdlib flag is sufficient.

Quick Reference

Concern Package / Tool Commands & flags github.com/spf13/cobra Configuration github.com/spf13/viper Flag parsing github.com/spf13/pflag (via Cobra) Colored output github.com/fatih/color Table output github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter Interactive prompts github.com/charmbracelet/bubbletea Version injection go build -ldflags Distribution goreleaser

Project Structure

Organize CLI commands in cmd/myapp/ with one file per command. Keep main.go minimal — it only calls Execute().

myapp/
├── cmd/
│ └── myapp/
│ ├── main.go # package main, only calls Execute()
│ ├── root.go # Root command + Viper init
│ ├── serve.go # "serve" subcommand
│ ├── migrate.go # "migrate" subcommand
│ └── version.go # "version" subcommand
├── go.mod
└── go.sum

main.go should be minimal — see assets/examples/main.go.

Subcommands

Add subcommands by creating separate files in cmd/myapp/ and registering them in init(). See assets/examples/serve.go for a complete subcommand example including command groups.

Flags

See assets/examples/flags.go for all flag patterns:

Persistent vs Local

• Persistent flags are inherited by all subcommands (e.g., --config)

• Local flags only apply to the command they're defined on (e.g., --port)

Required Flags

Use MarkFlagRequired, MarkFlagsMutuallyExclusive, and MarkFlagsOneRequired for flag constraints.

Flag Validation with RegisterFlagCompletionFunc

Provide completion suggestions for flag values.

Always Bind Flags to Viper

This ensures viper.GetInt("port") returns the flag value, env var MYAPP_PORT, or config file value — whichever has highest precedence.

Argument Validation

Cobra provides built-in validators for positional arguments. See assets/examples/args.go for both built-in and custom validation examples.

Validator Description cobra.NoArgs Fails if any args provided cobra.ExactArgs(n) Requires exactly n args cobra.MinimumNArgs(n) Requires at least n args cobra.MaximumNArgs(n) Allows at most n args cobra.RangeArgs(min, max) Requires between min and max cobra.ExactValidArgs(n) Exactly n args, must be in ValidArgs

Version and Build Info

Version SHOULD be embedded at compile time using ldflags. See assets/examples/version.go for the version command and build instructions.

Exit Codes

Exit codes MUST follow Unix conventions:

Code Meaning When to Use 0 Success Operation completed normally 1 General error Runtime failure 2 Usage error Invalid flags or arguments 64-78 BSD sysexits Specific error categories 126 Cannot execute Permission denied 127 Command not found Missing dependency 128+N Signal N Terminated by signal (e.g., 130 = SIGINT)

See assets/examples/exit_codes.go for a pattern mapping errors to exit codes.

I/O Patterns

See assets/examples/output.go for all I/O patterns:

• stdout vs stderr: NEVER write diagnostic output to stdout — stdout is for program output (pipeable), stderr for logs/errors/diagnostics

• Detecting pipe vs terminal: check os.ModeCharDevice on stdout

• Machine-readable output: support --output flag for table/json/plain formats

• Colors: use fatih/color which auto-disables when output is not a terminal

Signal Handling

Signal handling MUST use signal.NotifyContext to propagate cancellation through context. See assets/examples/signal.go for graceful HTTP server shutdown.

Shell Completions

Cobra generates completions for bash, zsh, fish, and PowerShell automatically. See assets/examples/completion.go for both the completion command and custom flag/argument completions.

Testing CLI Commands

Test commands by executing them programmatically and capturing output. See assets/examples/cli_test.go.

Use cmd.OutOrStdout() and cmd.ErrOrStderr() in commands (instead of os.Stdout / os.Stderr) so output can be captured in tests.

Related Skills

See samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-project-layout, samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-dependency-injection, samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-testing, samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-design-patterns skills.