Rust

CLI Arguments Generator in Rust

Build a universal utility that transforms natural language tasks into precise command-line arguments.

⏱️ 3h 40min

📦 11 modules

🎯 Intermediate

What You'll Build

You'll build a universal command-line companion that understands natural-language requests and turns them into the exact arguments for the tool you're already using. Say "drop the last commit" while invoking it for Git and it proposes git reset --soft HEAD^, ready to run.

The utility works as a plus-suffixed wrapper you can call alongside your everyday commands (think git+, ffmpeg+, rg+), always showing a clear preview and asking for confirmation before executing. It makes powerful actions quick, transparent, and safe.

Learning Objectives

Set up a Rust project with async capabilities
Parse command-line arguments using the plus-suffix convention
Craft and fill a prompt template for an LLM
Integrate with an OpenAI-compatible API via the rig crate
Split LLM output into shell-safe arguments
Spawn and manage child processes asynchronously
Propagate exit codes for correct pipeline behavior
Add an interactive confirmation dialog for safety

Prerequisites

Basic Rust syntax (structs, impl blocks, Result)
Familiarity with Cargo and dependencies
Understanding of async/await concepts
Basic command-line experience

Assembly Steps

Project Baseline

Application Entry Point

Argument Parsing Logic

Prompt Template

Template Substitution

LLM Integration

Async Runtime Setup

Shell-Aware Argument Splitting

Command Execution

Exit Code Propagation

User Confirmation Dialog

Technologies

Rust CLI LLM OpenAI Prompt Engineering Async Tokio Process Management Shell Parsing Code Generation