Alveus.Contour (0.3.2)

Published 2025-12-21 17:18:31 +01:00 by mike

Setup this registry from the command line:

dotnet nuget add source --name public --username your_username --password your_token

To install the package using NuGet, run the following command:

dotnet add package --source public --version 0.3.2 Alveus.Contour

For more information on the NuGet registry, see the documentation.

A modern, lightweight framework for building command-line applications in C#. Alveus.Contour provides an intuitive attribute-based API for defining commands, supports middleware pipelines, includes a built-in REPL, and is fully AOT-compatible.

Alveus Contour

Features

Attribute-based command definition - Use simple attributes to declare commands, subcommands, options, flags, and parameters
Middleware pipeline - Wrap command execution with cross-cutting concerns (logging, validation, initialization)
Global options - Define options available across all commands
Built-in REPL - Interactive mode with command history, auto-completion, and customizable prompts
- Intelligent auto-completion - Tab completion for commands, subcommands, options, and flags
- Syntax highlighting - Real-time color highlighting of commands, subcommands, and options as you type
- Command history - Navigate previous commands with arrow keys and recall with !<number> syntax
- Configurable history - Option to save only successful commands
- Environment variable expansion - Support for Bash, CMD, and PowerShell variable syntax
Dependency injection - Built on Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection
Theming system - Customize colors and styles throughout the application with built-in themes or create your own
Extensible help system - Customize help output with custom providers
Version handling - Display version information with custom providers or inline delegates
AOT-ready - Full support for Native AOT compilation
Spectre.Console integration - Rich terminal output with colors, tables, and panels

Requirements

.NET 10.0 SDK or later

Quick Start

Installation

dotnet add package Alveus.Contour

Basic Usage

using Alveus.Contour;

var builder = new ContourBuilder();

// Register commands
builder.AddCommand<MyCommand>();

// Configure the app
var app = builder.Build();
return app.Run(args);

Defining a Command

using Alveus.Contour.Attributes;

[Command("greet", Description = "Greets a person")]
public class GreetCommand
{
    [DefaultHandler]
    public int Execute(
        [Parameter(0, Description = "Name to greet")]
        string name,
        [Flag("formal", ShortName = "f", Description = "Use formal greeting")]
        bool formal)
    {
        var greeting = formal ? $"Good day, {name}" : $"Hi, {name}!";
        Console.WriteLine(greeting);
        return 0;
    }
}

$ myapp greet Alice
Hi, Alice!

$ myapp greet Alice --formal
Good day, Alice

Core Concepts

Commands

Commands are defined using the [Command] attribute on a class. Each command can have multiple handlers for subcommands.

[Command("git", Description = "Version control operations")]
public class GitCommand
{
    [DefaultHandler]
    public int Default()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Usage: git <command>");
        return 0;
    }

    [Subcommand("status", Description = "Show working tree status")]
    public int Status()
    {
        // Implementation
        return 0;
    }

    [Subcommand("commit", Description = "Record changes to the repository")]
    public int Commit(
        [Option("message", ShortName = "m", Description = "Commit message", Required = true)]
        string message)
    {
        // Implementation
        return 0;
    }
}

Global Options

Global options are available across all commands:

public class AppGlobalOptions
{
    [Flag("verbose", Description = "Enable verbose output")]
    public bool Verbose { get; set; }

    [Option("config", ShortName = "c", Description = "Configuration file path")]
    public string? ConfigPath { get; set; }
}

// Register in builder
builder.UseGlobalOptions<AppGlobalOptions>();

// Access in commands via dependency injection
[Command("build")]
public class BuildCommand
{
    private readonly AppGlobalOptions _options;

    public BuildCommand(AppGlobalOptions options)
    {
        _options = options;
    }

    [DefaultHandler]
    public int Execute()
    {
        if (_options.Verbose)
            Console.WriteLine("Verbose mode enabled");
        return 0;
    }
}

Middleware

Middleware wraps command execution with cross-cutting concerns like logging, validation, or initialization:

// Class-based middleware
public class LoggingMiddleware : ICommandMiddleware
{
    public int Execute(CommandContext context, Func<int> next)
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"Executing: {context.Arguments.Command}");
        var result = next();
        Console.WriteLine($"Completed with exit code: {result}");
        return result;
    }
}

builder.UseMiddleware<LoggingMiddleware>();

// Or use inline middleware
builder.UseMiddleware((context, next) =>
{
    var startTime = DateTime.Now;
    var result = next();
    var elapsed = DateTime.Now - startTime;
    Console.WriteLine($"Execution time: {elapsed.TotalMilliseconds}ms");
    return result;
});

Skipping Middleware

You can skip middleware for specific commands or subcommands using the [SkipMiddleware] attribute. This is useful for informational commands (like help or version) or system commands where middleware would be inappropriate:

// Skip middleware for entire command
[Command("info")]
[SkipMiddleware]
public class InfoCommand
{
    [DefaultHandler]
    public int Execute()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Application information...");
        return 0;
    }
}

// Skip middleware for specific subcommands only
[Command("database")]
public class DatabaseCommand
{
    [Subcommand("migrate")]
    public int Migrate()
    {
        // Middleware runs for this subcommand
        Console.WriteLine("Running migrations...");
        return 0;
    }

    [Subcommand("status")]
    [SkipMiddleware]  // Skip middleware for this subcommand
    public int Status()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Database status: OK");
        return 0;
    }
}

Note: Middleware is automatically skipped for:

Help requests (--help, -h, or the help command)
Version requests (--version, -v)
Invalid commands or validation errors

REPL Mode

Enable an interactive Read-Eval-Print Loop with advanced features:

builder.ConfigureRepl(config =>
{
    config.EnableRepl = true;
    config.EnableHistory = true;
    config.SaveHistoryOnSuccessOnly = false;  // Save all commands, or only successful ones
    config.DefaultToRepl = true;  // Start in REPL when no args provided
    config.EnableSyntaxHighlighting = true;   // Enable real-time syntax highlighting (default: true)
    config.PersistGlobalOptions = true;       // Persist global options across REPL commands (default: false)

    // Prompt receives ContourApp to access current theme
    config.Prompt = (app) =>
    {
        var theme = app.Theme;
        AnsiConsole.Markup($"[{theme.InfoStyle.ToMarkup()}]> [/]");
    };

    // Enable environment variable expansion with multiple syntaxes
    config.EnableVariableExpansion = true;
    config.VariableExpansionSyntax = VariableExpansionSyntax.OsDefault;  // Platform defaults
    config.ErrorOnUnknownVariable = false;  // Return empty string for unknown vars (default: false)

    // Or combine multiple syntaxes using flags:
    // config.VariableExpansionSyntax = VariableExpansionSyntax.Bash | VariableExpansionSyntax.PowerShell;
});

REPL Features:

Syntax Highlighting - Commands, subcommands, and options are highlighted as you type
- Commands appear in the theme's command color
- Valid options and flags are highlighted in the option color
- Invalid or unknown tokens remain unhighlighted
- Colors update dynamically when you change themes

Auto-completion - Press Tab to complete commands, subcommands, options, and flags

> gre<Tab>       # Completes to "greet"
> greet --<Tab>  # Shows all available options and flags
> greet -<Tab>   # Shows short-form options

Command History - Navigate with arrow keys or recall by number

> greet Alice
> greet Bob
> history        # Shows numbered command history
> !1             # Recalls "greet Alice" for editing
> <Up Arrow>     # Navigate to previous commands

Environment Variable Expansion - Use environment variables in commands with support for multiple syntaxes

# Bash/Linux style
> greet $USER              # Expands to current user
> process ${HOME}/file.txt # Braced syntax

# Windows CMD style
> greet %USERNAME%         # Windows user variable
> process %TEMP%\file.txt  # Temp directory

# Enhanced Batch/DOS style with substring support
> echo %PATH:~0,20%        # First 20 characters of PATH
> echo %USERNAME:~-5%      # Last 5 characters of username
> echo %TEMP:~3%           # From character 3 to end

# PowerShell style
> greet $env:USERNAME      # PowerShell syntax

Available syntaxes (can be combined with |):

VariableExpansionSyntax.None - Disable expansion
VariableExpansionSyntax.Bash - $VAR or ${VAR}
VariableExpansionSyntax.Cmd - %VAR%
VariableExpansionSyntax.PowerShell - $env:VAR
VariableExpansionSyntax.BatchEnhanced - %VAR:~start,length% with substring support
VariableExpansionSyntax.OsDefault - Automatically use platform defaults
- Windows: Cmd | BatchEnhanced
- Linux/macOS: Bash

Examples of combining syntaxes:

// Support both Bash and PowerShell in same session
config.VariableExpansionSyntax = VariableExpansionSyntax.Bash | VariableExpansionSyntax.PowerShell;

// Support all Windows styles
config.VariableExpansionSyntax = VariableExpansionSyntax.Cmd | VariableExpansionSyntax.BatchEnhanced | VariableExpansionSyntax.PowerShell;

// Cross-platform support
config.VariableExpansionSyntax = VariableExpansionSyntax.Bash | VariableExpansionSyntax.Cmd | VariableExpansionSyntax.PowerShell;

Handling Unknown Variables:

By default, unknown environment variables expand to an empty string:

> echo $UNKNOWN_VAR something    # Expands to "echo  something"

To receive an error when unknown variables are encountered:

config.ErrorOnUnknownVariable = true;

With this enabled:

> echo $UNKNOWN_VAR
Error: Unknown environment variable: UNKNOWN_VAR

Persistent Global Options - Global options can persist across REPL commands

When PersistGlobalOptions is enabled, global options set when starting the app will remain active for all REPL commands:

# Start app with global options
$ myapp --verbose --log-level 3

# In REPL, these options remain active
> info                   # Shows: verbose=true, log-level=3
> build                  # Runs with verbose=true, log-level=3
> test --log-level 1     # Override log-level to 1, verbose stays true
> deploy --nogopt        # Reset to defaults for this command only

Key Features:

Global options persist across all REPL commands
Options can be overridden on a per-command basis
Use --nogopt flag to temporarily reset to defaults
When disabled (default), options reset to defaults before each command

Configuration:

builder.ConfigureRepl(config =>
{
    config.PersistGlobalOptions = true;  // Enable persistence (default: false)
});

Boolean Flag Values - Flags support explicit boolean values

Flags can now accept explicit true/false values in addition to the traditional presence/absence:

# Traditional syntax (presence = true)
$ myapp --verbose

# Explicit true values
$ myapp --verbose true
$ myapp --verbose yes
$ myapp --verbose on
$ myapp --verbose 1

# Explicit false values
$ myapp --verbose false
$ myapp --verbose no
$ myapp --verbose off
$ myapp --verbose 0

This is particularly useful in REPL mode when you want to disable a flag that's already set:

> info --verbose         # Enable verbose
> info --verbose false   # Disable verbose

Supported values:

True: true, yes, on, 1 (case-insensitive)
False: false, no, off, 0 (case-insensitive)
No value: Defaults to true (traditional behavior)

Built-in Commands
- exit or quit - Exit the REPL
- help - Display available commands
- history - Display command history
- history clear - Clear command history
- clear - Clear the screen

Example REPL Session:

$ myapp
Interactive REPL - Type 'exit' to quit

> greet Alice
Hi, Alice!

> greet Bob --formal
Good day, Bob

> history
  # | Command
 ---+-------------------
  1 | greet Alice
  2 | greet Bob --formal

> !1
> greet Alice --formal  # Edit recalled command before running
Good day, Alice

> exit

Theming

Customize the appearance of your CLI application with themes:

// Apply a built-in theme
var app = builder.Build();
app.ApplyTheme(ContourTheme.Dark());        // Dark theme
app.ApplyTheme(ContourTheme.Light());       // Light theme
app.ApplyTheme(ContourTheme.Ultraviolet()); // Vibrant purple/neon
app.ApplyTheme(ContourTheme.Rainbow());     // Colorful rainbow

// Create a custom theme
var customTheme = new ContourTheme
{
    CommandStyle = new Style(Color.Magenta, decoration: Decoration.Bold),
    SubcommandStyle = new Style(Color.Cyan),
    OptionStyle = new Style(Color.Green),
    ErrorStyle = new Style(Color.Red, decoration: Decoration.Bold),
    WarningStyle = new Style(Color.Yellow),
    SuccessStyle = new Style(Color.Green1),
    InfoStyle = new Style(Color.Blue),
    DimStyle = new Style(Color.Grey),
    HighlightStyle = new Style(Color.White, decoration: Decoration.Bold)
};
app.ApplyTheme(customTheme);

// Themes affect:
// - Syntax highlighting in REPL
// - Help output (commands, options, descriptions)
// - Error and success messages
// - Tables, panels, and borders
// - Version display
// - Custom command output (when using theme)

Accessing Theme in Commands:

[Command("mycommand")]
public class MyCommand
{
    private readonly ContourApp _app;

    public MyCommand(ContourApp app)
    {
        _app = app;
    }

    [DefaultHandler]
    public int Execute()
    {
        // Option 1: Use theme-aware markup methods (recommended)
        _app.MarkupLine("[success]Operation completed successfully![/]");
        _app.MarkupLine("[error]Something went wrong![/]");
        _app.MarkupLine("[warning]Warning message[/]");
        _app.MarkupLine("[info]Informational message[/]");
        _app.MarkupLine("[dim]Dimmed text[/] [highlight]Highlighted text[/]");
        _app.MarkupLine("[command]mycommand[/] [subcommand]subcommand[/] [option]--option[/]");

        // Option 2: Access theme directly for advanced scenarios
        var theme = _app.Theme;
        AnsiConsole.MarkupLine($"[{theme.SuccessStyle.ToMarkup()}]Success![/]");

        return 0;
    }
}

Theme-Aware Markup Tags:

ContourApp provides convenient wrapper methods that automatically apply theme colors to your output. These methods support the following tags:

Tag	Description	Use Case
`[error]...[/error]`	Error messages	Errors, failures, exceptions
`[warning]...[/warning]`	Warning messages	Warnings, cautions
`[success]...[/success]`	Success messages	Confirmations, completions
`[info]...[/info]`	Informational messages	General information, prompts
`[dim]...[/dim]`	Dimmed/muted text	Secondary information, hints
`[highlight]...[/highlight]`	Highlighted/emphasized text	Important values, keywords
`[command]...[/command]`	Command names	Commands in help text
`[subcommand]...[/subcommand]`	Subcommand names	Subcommands in help text
`[option]...[/option]`	Option/flag names	Options and flags in help text

Available Methods:

// Write markup (no newline)
_app.Markup("[error]Error:[/] Something went wrong");

// Write markup with newline
_app.MarkupLine("[success]Success:[/] Task completed");

// Write interpolated markup (no newline)
_app.MarkupInterpolated($"[info]Processing {filename}...[/]");

// Write interpolated markup with newline
_app.MarkupLineInterpolated($"[success]Processed {count} files[/]");

// Parse theme markup without writing to console
string spectreMarkup = _app.ParseThemeMarkup("[error]Error:[/] [warning]Warning[/]");
// Returns: "[red]Error:[/] [yellow]Warning[/]" (actual colors depend on theme)

// Use with Spectre.Console directly
var panel = new Panel(_app.ParseThemeMarkup("[info]Panel content[/]"));
AnsiConsole.Write(panel);

Benefits:

Theme-independent: Your code doesn't need to know about specific colors
Automatic updates: Changes to the theme automatically affect all output
Cleaner code: Simpler syntax compared to accessing theme styles directly
Consistent styling: Ensures consistent use of theme colors across commands

Version Handling

Customize version display with access to the current theme:

// Using a custom provider class
public class CustomVersionProvider : IVersionProvider
{
    public int ShowVersion()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("MyApp v2.1.0");
        return 0;
    }
}

builder.UseVersionProvider<CustomVersionProvider>();

// Or use inline version provider with theme access
builder.UseVersionProvider((app) =>
{
    var theme = app?.Theme ?? ContourTheme.Default();
    AnsiConsole.MarkupLine($"[{theme.InfoStyle.ToMarkup()}]MyApp v2.1.0 - Build 12345[/]");
    return 0;
});

Help System

Customize help output:

// Using a custom provider class
public class CustomHelpProvider : IHelpProvider
{
    public int ShowHelp(Type commandType, CommandAvailability context)
    {
        // Custom help implementation
        return 0;
    }

    public int ShowAllHelp(CommandAvailability context)
    {
        // Custom help implementation
        return 0;
    }
}

builder.UseHelpProvider<CustomHelpProvider>();

Attributes Reference

Command Attributes

[Command] - Marks a class as a command
- Name - Command name (required)
- Description - Command description
- Aliases - Alternative names
- Availability - Where command is available (Cli, Repl, or Both)
[DefaultHandler] - Marks the default command handler method
[Subcommand] - Marks a method as a subcommand handler
- Name - Subcommand name (required)
- Description - Subcommand description
- Availability - Where subcommand is available

Parameter Attributes

[Parameter] - Positional parameter
- Position - Zero-based position
- Description - Parameter description
- MinCount - Minimum required count (for collections)
[Option] - Named option that accepts a value
- Name - Option name (required)
- ShortName - Short form (e.g., -o)
- Description - Option description
- DefaultValue - Default value if not provided
- Required - Whether option is required
[Flag] - Boolean flag
- Name - Flag name (required)
- ShortName - Short form (e.g., -v)
- Description - Flag description
- DefaultValue - Default value (defaults to false)

Building and Running

Build the Solution

dotnet restore
dotnet build

Project Structure

Alveus.Contour/
├── Alveus.Contour/           # Core library
│   ├── Attributes/           # Command and parameter attributes
│   ├── Commands/             # Built-in commands (help, history, etc.)
│   ├── Help/                 # Help system
│   ├── Middleware/           # Middleware infrastructure
│   ├── Parsing/              # Argument parsing
│   ├── REPL/                 # REPL implementation
│   ├── Routing/              # Command routing
│   ├── Version/              # Version handling
│   ├── ContourApp.cs         # Main application class
│   └── ContourBuilder.cs     # Fluent builder API
└── Alveus.Contour.Demo/      # Demo application
    ├── Commands/             # Example commands
    ├── Middleware/           # Example middleware
    └── Program.cs            # Demo entry point

Advanced Examples

Command with Collection Parameters

[Command("process")]
public class ProcessCommand
{
    [DefaultHandler]
    public int Execute(
        [Option("tag", ShortName = "t", Description = "Tags (can be specified multiple times)")]
        IEnumerable<string> tags,
        [Parameter(0, MinCount = 1, Description = "Files to process")]
        IEnumerable<string> files)
    {
        foreach (var file in files)
        {
            Console.WriteLine($"Processing: {file}");
            foreach (var tag in tags ?? Enumerable.Empty<string>())
            {
                Console.WriteLine($"  Tag: {tag}");
            }
        }
        return 0;
    }
}

$ myapp process file1.txt file2.txt -t alpha -t beta
Processing: file1.txt
  Tag: alpha
  Tag: beta
Processing: file2.txt
  Tag: alpha
  Tag: beta

Async Command Handlers

public class AsyncMiddleware : ICommandMiddlewareAsync
{
    public async Task<int> ExecuteAsync(CommandContext context, Func<Task<int>> next)
    {
        await Task.Delay(100);  // Async work
        return await next();
    }
}

builder.UseMiddleware<AsyncMiddleware>();

Multiple Global Options Types

public class AppGlobalOptions
{
    [Flag("verbose", ShortName = "v")]
    public bool Verbose { get; set; }
}

public class DatabaseOptions
{
    [Option("connection", ShortName = "db")]
    public string? ConnectionString { get; set; }
}

builder.UseGlobalOptions<AppGlobalOptions>();
builder.UseGlobalOptions<DatabaseOptions>();

Dependencies

Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection (10.0.0) - Dependency injection
Spectre.Console (0.54.0) - Rich terminal UI

What's New

Persistent Global Options in REPL

Global options can now persist across REPL commands, providing a more seamless interactive experience:

Persistent State: Global options set when launching the app remain active for all REPL commands
Per-command Override: Override global options on individual commands without changing the persisted values
Reset to Defaults: Use the --nogopt flag to temporarily reset global options to defaults for a single command
Configurable Behavior: Enable or disable persistence with config.PersistGlobalOptions

This feature is particularly useful when you want to maintain a consistent set of options (like --verbose or --log-level) throughout a REPL session without having to specify them on every command.

Boolean Flag Values

Flags now support explicit boolean values, giving you more control over their state:

Explicit True/False: Set flags to true or false explicitly using --verbose true or --verbose false
Multiple Formats: Supports multiple boolean formats: true/false, yes/no, on/off, 1/0
Case Insensitive: All boolean values are parsed case-insensitively
REPL Friendly: Especially useful in REPL mode for toggling flags on and off

This feature makes it easier to disable flags in REPL mode and provides a more intuitive syntax for flag manipulation.

Theming System

Alveus.Contour includes a comprehensive theming system that allows you to customize the appearance of your CLI application:

Built-in themes: Default, Dark, Light, Monochrome, Ultraviolet, and Rainbow
Custom themes: Create your own themes by defining styles for commands, options, errors, and more
Dynamic theme switching: Change themes at runtime (even in REPL mode)
Automatic propagation: Themes automatically apply to syntax highlighting, help output, error messages, and all UI elements
Theme-aware commands: Commands can access the current theme via dependency injection

Syntax Highlighting in REPL

The REPL features real-time syntax highlighting:

Commands, subcommands, and options are color-coded as you type
Invalid or unknown elements remain unhighlighted for immediate visual feedback
Highlighting uses the current theme and updates dynamically when themes change
Provides a more intuitive and polished interactive experience

Custom Line Editor

Alveus.Contour includes a custom-built line editor, removing the dependency on the ReadLine library. This provides:

Full control over keyboard input handling (arrow keys, Home, End, backspace, delete)
Intelligent auto-completion for commands, subcommands, options, and flags (including global options)
Command history with configurable success-only saving
History recall with !<number> syntax allowing pre-execution editing
Environment variable expansion with support for multiple shell syntaxes (Bash, CMD, PowerShell)
Better integration with the REPL environment and syntax highlighting

License

Refer to the LICENSE file in the repository.

Release v0.2.0

ID	Version	Target Framework
Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection	10.0.0	net10.0
Spectre.Console	0.54.0	net10.0

Details

NuGet

2025-12-21 17:18:31 +01:00

Alveus Dev (https://alveus.dev)

Project website

Repository website

117 KiB

Assets (4)

alveus.contour.0.3.2.nupkg 48 KiB

alveus.contour.nuspec 1.4 KiB

alveus.contour.0.3.2.snupkg 25 KiB

alveus.contour.pdb 42 KiB

Versions (8) View all

0.3.2

2025-12-21

0.3.1

2025-12-19

0.3.0

2025-12-18

0.2.2

2025-12-08

0.2.1

2025-12-08

Alveus.Contour (0.3.2)

Installation

About this package

Alveus Contour

Features

Requirements

Quick Start

Installation

Basic Usage

Defining a Command

Core Concepts

Commands

Global Options

Middleware

Skipping Middleware

REPL Mode

Theming

Version Handling

Help System

Attributes Reference

Command Attributes

Parameter Attributes

Building and Running

Build the Solution

Project Structure

Advanced Examples

Command with Collection Parameters

Async Command Handlers

Multiple Global Options Types

Dependencies

What's New

Persistent Global Options in REPL

Boolean Flag Values

Theming System

Syntax Highlighting in REPL

Custom Line Editor

License

Dependencies