Building interactive command-line interfaces is a powerful way to engage with users directly from the terminal. I’ve come across two great libraries for this purpose: Questionary (for Python) and Clack (for JavaScript). Let’s explore these tools and their use cases, especially how they can be combined with my projects for reading PDFs, fetching YouTube transcripts, and summarizing content.
Questionary (Python)
Questionary is a Python library that allows you to create interactive command-line prompts with minimal effort. It supports a wide range of input types like text, password, select, multi-select, confirm, and more. You can even execute commands or processes between prompts.
Example 1: Basic Usage
Here’s a simple example that demonstrates asking the user for input and then performing some action between prompts.
This flexibility makes Questionary perfect for tasks where you need user interaction and also have background processing between prompts.
Example 2: Fetching YouTube Transcript
One of my projects fetches YouTube transcripts, and we can easily integrate Questionary to interact with the user in the terminal, allowing them to decide whether to fetch the transcript or perform another action.
Example 3: PDF Processing and Summarization
In another project, I extract text from PDFs and generate summaries. Let’s imagine a scenario where we ask the user if they want to save the summary or output it to the console.
Clack (JavaScript)
I first encountered command-line interactions through Clack in the JavaScript ecosystem. Although we’re focusing on Python here, it’s worth noting that Clack offers similar functionality for creating rich prompts and interactions in JavaScript applications. Quartz (a project worth checking out) uses it to enhance the interactive experience in their toolset.
RasaHQ: Inspiration for Using Prompts
While Questionary and Clack are great for creating interactive command-line interfaces, it’s worth mentioning that complex projects like RasaHQ also heavily rely on prompt-based interactions. Rasa builds conversational AI applications, and the command-line experience for developers is a key part of its usability.
Conclusion
Both Questionary and Clack provide excellent options for building dynamic, interactive command-line tools. Whether it’s fetching YouTube transcripts, reading and summarizing PDFs, or interacting with OpenAPI from the terminal, these tools offer flexibility and ease of use. For those working in JavaScript, Clack and Quartz showcase how rich terminal interactions can elevate your project. For Python developers, Questionary can be a powerful companion in building engaging and functional CLI tools.
Remember to check out my other projects that integrate with Questionary:
- PDF summarization
- YouTube transcript fetching
- Clipboard management for command-line outputs
Happy coding!