golang-cli

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/olekukonez/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(). main.go should be minimal — see assets/examples/main.go.

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
├── src/
│   ├── server/                  # HTTP server logic, middleware, handlers
│   ├── database/                # DB connection, queries, migrations
│   └── aws/                     # AWS SDK clients and service wrappers
├── go.mod
└── go.sum

Business logic lives in src/, which sits as a sibling to cmd/. Each subdirectory groups functionality by concern — server/ for HTTP handling, database/ for persistence, aws/ for cloud service wrappers — keeping implementation details cleanly separated from command wiring.

This layout is designed for maximum separation of concerns: commands only parse flags and delegate to src/ packages; they never contain business logic themselves. It also aids AI-assisted development — focused, single-responsibility packages are easier for an AI agent to reason about, modify, and test in isolation, reducing the risk of unintended side-effects across the codebase.

Root Command Setup

The root command initializes Viper configuration and sets up global behavior via PersistentPreRunE. See assets/examples/root.go.

Key points:

• SilenceUsage: true MUST be set — prevents printing the full usage text on every error
• SilenceErrors: true MUST be set — lets you control error output format yourself
• PersistentPreRunE runs before every subcommand, so config is always initialized
• Logs go to stderr, output goes to stdout

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

Configuration with Viper

Viper resolves configuration values in this order (highest to lowest precedence):

1. CLI flags (explicit user input)
2. Environment variables (deployment config)
3. Config file (persistent settings)
4. Defaults (set in code)

See assets/examples/config.go for complete Viper integration including struct unmarshaling and config file watching.

Example Config File (.myapp.yaml)

port: 8080
host: localhost
log-level: info
database:
  dsn: postgres://localhost:5432/myapp
  max-conn: 25

With the setup above, these are all equivalent:

• Flag: --port 9090
• Env var: MYAPP_PORT=9090
• Config file: port: 9090

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.

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Writing to os.Stdout directly	Tests can't capture output. Use cmd.OutOrStdout() which tests can redirect to a buffer
Calling os.Exit() inside RunE	Cobra's error handling, deferred functions, and cleanup code never run. Return an error, let main() decide
Not binding flags to Viper	Flags won't be configurable via env/config. Call viper.BindPFlag for every configurable flag
Missing viper.SetEnvPrefix	PORT collides with other tools. Use a prefix (MYAPP_PORT) to namespace env vars
Logging to stdout	Unix pipes chain stdout — logs corrupt the data stream for the next program. Logs go to stderr
Printing usage on every error	Full help text on every error is noise. Set SilenceUsage: true, save full usage for --help
Config file required	Users without a config file get a crash. Ignore viper.ConfigFileNotFoundError — config should be optional
Not using PersistentPreRunE	Config initialization must happen before any subcommand. Use root's PersistentPreRunE
Hardcoded version string	Version gets out of sync with tags. Inject via ldflags at build time from git tags
Not supporting --output format	Scripts can't parse human-readable output. Add JSON/table/plain for machine consumption

Related Skills

• → See golang-project-layout for project structure and directory layout
• → See golang-dependency-injection for DI approach comparison and wiring
• → See golang-design-patterns for architectural patterns