bootstrap-go-cli

Bootstrap Go CLI

Scaffold a production-ready Go CLI application using Cobra + Viper + slog.

Gather Input

Ask the user for:

App name — binary/project name (lowercase, hyphen-separated, e.g. my-tool)
Module path — Go module path (e.g. github.com/user/my-tool)
Subcommands — initial subcommands to scaffold (e.g. serve, init, sync)

Derive ENV_PREFIX from app name: uppercase, hyphens replaced with underscores (e.g. my-tool → MY_TOOL).

Generate Project

Read references/templates.md for all file templates.

Create files in this order:

1. Initialize Go module

mkdir -p <app-name>/cmd
cd <app-name>
go mod init <module-path>

2. Create files from templates

Apply placeholder substitution ({{APP_NAME}}, {{MODULE_PATH}}, {{ENV_PREFIX}}) to each template:

File	Template
`main.go`	main.go template
`cmd/root.go`	cmd/root.go template
`cmd/<subcmd>.go`	subcommand template (one per requested subcommand)
`.gitignore`	.gitignore template
`.goreleaser.yaml`	.goreleaser.yaml template
`justfile`	justfile template

3. Install dependencies

go get github.com/spf13/cobra@latest
go get github.com/spf13/viper@latest
go mod tidy

4. Initialize git and verify

git init
go build ./...

Output

After generation, print a summary:

Created <app-name>/ with:
  main.go              — entry point with version/commit/date ldflags
  cmd/root.go          — root command with Viper config + slog logging
  cmd/<subcmd>.go      — subcommand stubs (one per requested command)
  .goreleaser.yaml     — cross-platform release config
  justfile             — build/test/lint/release recipes
  .gitignore           — Go + editor + OS ignores

Run it:
  cd <app-name> && just run --help

Next steps:
  - Implement subcommand logic in cmd/*.go
  - Add config options via Viper (flags, env vars, or .yaml file)
  - Run `just test` to verify, `just snapshot` to test releases