This post introduces Optique, a new library created to address the pervasive problem of repetitive and often messy validation code in CLI tools. The author was motivated by the observation that nearly every CLI tool reinvents the wheel with similar validation patterns for dependent options, mutually exclusive options, and environment-specific requirements. Optique leverages parser combinators and TypeScript's type inference to ensure that CLI arguments are parsed directly into valid configurations, eliminating the need for manual validation. By describing the desired CLI configuration with Optique, TypeScript automatically infers the types and constraints, catching potential bugs at compile time. The author shares their experience of deleting large chunks of validation code and simplifying refactoring tasks. Optique aims to provide a more robust and maintainable approach to CLI argument parsing, potentially saving developers from writing the same validation logic repeatedly.
Not exactly an answer, but I’ll take the opportunity to point out that Bun has a shell feature which makes it easy to mix and match JS and Bash in the same script, and it provides a compatibility layer for Windows users so that you don’t have to worry about platform differences in shell capabilities. https://bun.sh/guides/runtime/shell