SwiftCLI

Pre-1.0 Notice: This library is under active development. The API may change between minor versions until 1.0.

A comprehensive Swift library for building Terminal User Interfaces and CLI applications.

Features

• Swift 6 with modern async/await concurrency support
• Type-safe ANSI escape code generation with zero dependencies
• Modular architecture - use only what you need
• Multi-platform support: macOS 12+, Linux
• SwiftUI-like TUI framework for building full terminal applications

Installation

Add SwiftCLI as a dependency in your Package.swift:

dependencies: [
    .package(url: "https://github.com/CorvidLabs/swift-cli.git", from: "0.1.0")
]

Then add the target dependency:

.target(
    name: "YourTarget",
    dependencies: [
        .product(name: "CLI", package: "swift-cli")
    ]
)

Documentation

• API Documentation

Quick Start

Import Everything

import CLI

Or Import Only What You Need

import ANSI              // Pure escape codes
import TerminalCore      // Low-level I/O
import TerminalStyle     // Colors and styling
import TerminalInput     // Keyboard/mouse
import TerminalLayout    // Boxes, tables, panels
import TerminalComponents // Progress, spinners, prompts
import TerminalGraphics  // Terminal images
import TerminalUI        // Full TUI framework

Basic Styling

import TerminalStyle

let styled = "Hello, World!"
    .bold()
    .foreground(.green)

print(styled)

Progress Bar

import TerminalComponents

let progress = ProgressBar(total: 100)
for i in 0...100 {
    progress.update(i)
    // do work...
}

Interactive Prompt

import TerminalComponents

let name = Prompt.ask("What is your name?")
let confirmed = Prompt.confirm("Continue?")
let choice = Prompt.select("Pick one:", options: ["Option A", "Option B", "Option C"])

TerminalUI - SwiftUI-like Terminal Apps

Build full-screen terminal applications with a familiar SwiftUI-like syntax:

import TerminalUI

struct MyApp: App {
    var body: some View {
        VStack {
            Text("Hello, Terminal!").bold().cyan

            HStack(spacing: 2) {
                Text("Red").red
                Text("Green").green
                Text("Blue").blue
            }

            Text("Press 'q' to quit").dim()
        }
        .padding(1)
        .border(.rounded, title: "My App")
    }
}

// Run the app
try await runApp(MyApp())

Architecture

SwiftCLI follows a layered, modular architecture. Each module builds on the previous layers:

Module	Description
ANSI	Pure ANSI escape code generation - zero dependencies
TerminalCore	Low-level terminal operations: I/O, raw mode, capabilities
TerminalStyle	Colors, text styles, chainable styling API
TerminalInput	Keyboard input, mouse events, line editing
TerminalLayout	Boxes, tables, grids, panels, tree views
TerminalComponents	Progress bars, spinners, prompts, selection menus
TerminalGraphics	Terminal images: iTerm2, Kitty, Sixel protocols
TerminalUI	Full TUI framework with SwiftUI-like API
CLI	Umbrella module - imports everything

Available Views (TerminalUI)

View	Description
Text	Styled text with colors and formatting
VStack	Vertical layout with alignment and spacing
HStack	Horizontal layout with alignment and spacing
ZStack	Overlapping views with alignment
ForEach	Data-driven view generation
Spacer	Flexible spacing
Divider	Horizontal separator
EmptyView	Placeholder view

View Modifiers

Modifier	Description
.padding()	Add padding around views
.border()	Add borders (single, double, rounded, heavy)
.bold(), .italic(), .dim()	Text styles
.red, .green, .blue, .cyan, .yellow, .magenta	Text colors

Requirements

• Swift 6.0+
• macOS 12+ or Linux

License

SwiftCLI is available under the MIT license. See the LICENSE file for more info.