CLI Onboarding

CLI Onboarding & First-Time User Experience

Implement production-ready first-time user experience for CLI packages. Use when the user asks to add setup wizards, improve onboarding, handle edge cases, or prepare a CLI for publication.

When to Use

• User asks for "first-time user experience", "onboarding", or "setup wizard"
• User wants to "prepare for publishing" a CLI package
• User mentions "edge cases" for CLI tools
• User asks to add a "doctor" or diagnostic command
• User wants to improve error messages for new users

Core Patterns to Implement

1. Interactive Setup Wizard (<tool> setup)

Create a guided setup command that:

<tool> setup

Welcome to <tool>! Let's get you set up.

📋 Step 1: <First requirement>
   [Guidance text]
   [Open browser/show URL if needed]

📁 Step 2: <Configuration step>
   [Prompt for input with validation]

🔐 Step 3: <Authentication/final step>
   [Complete setup]

🎉 You're all set! Try: <tool> <main-command>

Key behaviors:

• Open browser automatically for external services (use open package in Node, webbrowser in Python)
• Validate input immediately and loop on errors
• Support ~ path expansion
• Handle drag-drop file paths (strip quotes)
• Provide sensible defaults
• Show clear success message with next steps

2. First-Run Detection

When user runs the tool with no arguments:

// Node.js pattern
if (process.argv.length === 2) {
  if (!isConfigured()) {
    console.log('Welcome to <tool>!');
    console.log('Run `<tool> setup` to get started.');
    return;
  }
}

# Python pattern
if len(sys.argv) == 1:
    if not is_configured():
        print("Welcome to <tool>!")
        print("Run `<tool> setup` to get started.")
        return

3. Doctor/Diagnostic Command (<tool> doctor)

For tools with complex dependencies:

<tool> doctor

Checking system requirements...

✓ Node.js >= 18
✓ ffmpeg installed (version 7.1)
✗ API token missing

To fix: Run `<tool> setup` or set <ENV_VAR>

Check for:

• Runtime version requirements
• System dependencies (ffmpeg, git, etc.)
• API keys/tokens
• Configuration files
• Network connectivity (if applicable)

4. Credentials/Config Validation

Validate configuration files before use:

// Node.js
function validateConfig(filePath) {
  if (!fs.existsSync(filePath)) {
    return { valid: false, error: 'File not found' };
  }
  try {
    const content = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(filePath, 'utf8'));
    if (!content.requiredField) {
      return { valid: false, error: 'Missing required field' };
    }
    return { valid: true };
  } catch (err) {
    return { valid: false, error: `Invalid JSON: ${err.message}` };
  }
}

# Python
def validate_config(file_path: Path) -> tuple[bool, str | None]:
    if not file_path.exists():
        return False, "File not found"
    try:
        config = json.loads(file_path.read_text())
        if "required_field" not in config:
            return False, "Missing required field"
        return True, None
    except json.JSONDecodeError as e:
        return False, f"Invalid JSON: {e}"

5. Actionable Error Messages

Transform errors into guidance:

❌ BAD:  "Error: ENOENT credentials.json"
✅ GOOD: "credentials.json not found at ~/.config/tool/

Run 'tool setup' to configure, or manually:
1. Go to https://console.example.com/
2. Create credentials
3. Save to ~/.config/tool/credentials.json"

6. Edge Cases to Handle

7. Update Notifier

Alert users when a newer version is available:

// Node.js - using update-notifier package
const updateNotifier = require('update-notifier');
const pkg = require('./package.json');

// Check for updates (non-blocking, cached)
updateNotifier({ pkg }).notify();

# Python - using packaging and httpx (or requests)
import httpx
from importlib.metadata import version
from packaging.version import parse

def check_for_updates(package_name: str) -> None:
    """Check PyPI for newer version and notify user."""
    try:
        current = version(package_name)
        response = httpx.get(f"https://pypi.org/pypi/{package_name}/json", timeout=2)
        latest = response.json()["info"]["version"]
        
        if parse(latest) > parse(current):
            print(f"\n┌{'─' * 44}┐")
            print(f"│  Update available {current} → {latest}".ljust(45) + "│")
            print(f"│  Run: pip install --upgrade {package_name}".ljust(45) + "│")
            print(f"└{'─' * 44}┘\n")
    except Exception:
        pass  # Silently fail - don't block CLI usage

# Call early in main()
check_for_updates("tool-name")

This displays (only when update available):

┌────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                            │
│   Update available 1.0.5 → 1.0.7           │
│   Run npm install -g tool-name to update   │
│                                            │
└────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Key behaviors:

• Non-blocking: check happens quickly with timeout
• Cached: Node.js version caches (1 day default); Python can use file-based cache
• Unobtrusive: only shows message when update exists
• Fails silently: never breaks CLI if network unavailable

Installation:

# Node.js
npm install update-notifier

# Python
pip install packaging httpx

8. Platform Detection

// Node.js - for platform-specific features
if (process.platform !== 'darwin') {
  console.log('This feature is macOS-only.');
  console.log('Alternative for your platform:');
  console.log('  crontab -e');
  console.log('  */5 * * * * /path/to/tool check');
  return;
}

# Python
import platform
if platform.system() != 'Darwin':
    print("This feature is macOS-only.")
    print("Alternative: Use cron or systemd")
    return

9. Configuration Location Standards

Always allow override via environment variable:

TOOL_CONFIG_DIR=/custom/path tool setup

Package Metadata Checklist

Before publishing, ensure:

Node.js (package.json)

{
  "name": "tool-name",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "Clear one-line description",
  "bin": { "tool": "src/cli.js" },
  "engines": { "node": ">=18" },
  "repository": { "type": "git", "url": "..." },
  "bugs": { "url": ".../issues" },
  "homepage": "...#readme",
  "license": "MIT"
}

Python (pyproject.toml)

[project]
name = "tool-name"
version = "1.0.0"
description = "Clear one-line description"
requires-python = ">=3.10"
license = { text = "MIT" }

[project.scripts]
tool = "tool.cli:main"
tool-doctor = "tool.cli:doctor"

[project.urls]
Homepage = "..."
Issues = ".../issues"

Required Files

• LICENSE - Full license text
• README.md - With Quick Start section
• .gitignore - Exclude secrets, build artifacts

Testing Setup Functionality

Test validation logic separately from interactive prompts:

// tests/setup.test.js
describe('validateConfig', () => {
  it('returns error for missing file', () => {
    const result = validateConfig('/nonexistent');
    expect(result.valid).toBe(false);
    expect(result.error).toBe('File not found');
  });

  it('returns error for invalid JSON', () => {
    // Create temp file with bad content
    // ...
  });
});

Use temp directories for file operations:

const TEST_DIR = path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'tool-test-' + Date.now());
beforeEach(() => fs.mkdirSync(TEST_DIR, { recursive: true }));
afterEach(() => fs.rmSync(TEST_DIR, { recursive: true, force: true }));

Implementation Order

1. Add config validation helpers - Pure functions, easy to test
2. Update error messages - Point to setup command
3. Create setup command - Interactive wizard
4. Add first-run detection - Welcome message when unconfigured
5. Add doctor command - If complex dependencies exist
6. Handle edge cases - SIGINT, paths, platform
7. Add update-notifier - Alert users of new versions
8. Update README - Setup as primary quick start
9. Add tests - Cover validation and edge cases
10. Verify package metadata - All fields present
11. Create LICENSE file - If missing

Example Implementations

• Node.js: See inboxd repo - inbox setup command
• Python: See VoxScriber repo - voxscriber-doctor command