Adding A Command

Examples

Example 1: Simple command (status)

User says: "Add a command to show config status"

Actions taken:

1. Create src/commands/status.ts with statusCommand() export
2. Import and register in src/cli.ts with tracked() wrapper

Result: caliber status displays config status; caliber status --json outputs JSON.

Code example:

import chalk from 'chalk';
import { loadConfig } from '../llm/config.js';

export async function statusCommand(options?: { json?: boolean }) {
  const config = loadConfig();
  
  if (options?.json) {
    console.log(JSON.stringify({ configured: !!config }, null, 2));
    return;
  }
  
  console.log(chalk.bold('Status'));
  console.log(`  LLM: ${chalk.green(config?.provider || 'Not configured')}`);
}

Registration in src/cli.ts:

import { statusCommand } from './commands/status.js';
program
  .command('status')
  .description('Show config status')
  .option('--json', 'Output as JSON')
  .action(tracked('status', statusCommand));

Example 2: Subcommand with arguments

User says: "Add a sources add subcommand"

Actions taken:

1. Create src/commands/sources.ts with sourcesAddCommand() export
2. Register under sources group with tracked('sources:add', ...)

Result: caliber sources add ../lib adds a source.

Code example:

export async function sourcesAddCommand(sourcePath: string) {
  if (!fs.existsSync(sourcePath)) {
    console.log(chalk.red(`Path not found: ${sourcePath}`));
    throw new Error('__exit__');
  }
  const existing = loadSourcesConfig(process.cwd());
  existing.push({ type: 'repo', path: sourcePath });
  writeSourcesConfig(process.cwd(), existing);
  console.log(chalk.green(`Added ${sourcePath}`));
}

Registration:

const sources = program.command('sources');
sources
  .command('add')
  .argument('<path>', 'Path to add')
  .action(tracked('sources:add', sourcesAddCommand));

Example 3: Command with option parsing

User says: "Add init with --agent flag supporting comma-separated values"

Actions taken:

1. Create parseAgentOption() parser in src/cli.ts
2. Create src/commands/init.ts with initCommand(options)
3. Register with custom parser

Result: caliber init --agent claude,cursor passes parsed array to handler.

Parser code:

function parseAgentOption(value: string) {
  const agents = value.split(',').map(s => s.trim().toLowerCase());
  if (agents.length === 0) {
    console.error('Invalid agent');
    process.exit(1);
  }
  return agents;
}

program.command('init')
  .option('--agent <type>', 'Agents (comma-separated)', parseAgentOption)
  .action(tracked('init', initCommand));

Common Issues

Issue: "SyntaxError: The requested module does not provide an export named 'myCommand'"

• Cause: Function not exported or exported as default instead of named.
• Fix: Use export async function myCommand(...) (not export default).

Issue: Command appears in help but crashes when run

• Cause: Handler not wrapped with tracked() or function import mismatch.
• Fix: Verify import name matches function export. Wrap with tracked('command-name', handler).

Issue: "Error: exit" appears in output for user errors

• Cause: Throwing generic error instead of using error exit pattern.
• Fix: Use console.error(chalk.red('message')); throw new Error('__exit__'); for user-facing errors.

Issue: --dry-run flag not recognized

• Cause: Option not declared with .option() or wrong camelCase in interface.
• Fix: Add .option('--dry-run', 'Description') and ensure options interface has dryRun?: boolean.

Issue: Subcommand crashes but parent command works

• Cause: Using program.command() instead of groupVar.command() for subcommands.
• Fix: Register on group: const sources = program.command('sources'); sources.command('add')...

Issue: Telemetry not appearing

• Cause: Handler not wrapped with tracked() or wrong command name.
• Fix: Ensure .action(tracked('{kebab-case}', handler)) wraps handler. Use colon for subcommands like 'sources:add'.

Issue: "Cannot find module" with relative imports

• Cause: Using .ts extension in imports.
• Fix: Always use .js extension: import { x } from '../lib/file.js' (required for ESM).38:["$","$L42",null,{"content":"$43","frontMatter":{"name":"adding-a-command","description":"Creates a new CLI command following the Commander.js pattern in src/commands/. Handles command registration in src/cli.ts, telemetry tracking via tracked() wrapper, and option parsing. Use when user says add command, new CLI command, create subcommand, or adds files to src/commands/. Do NOT use for modifying existing commands or fixing bugs in existing commands.","paths":["src/commands/**/*.ts","src/cli.ts"]}}]