commandlineofsight

CommandLineOfSight (often abbreviated as CLOS) is a command‑line interface (CLI) framework designed to provide developers with a structured, reusable approach to building command‑driven applications. The project was initiated in 2019 by a small group of open‑source contributors and is distributed under the MIT license. It supports multiple programming languages, including Python, Go, and Rust, through language‑specific bindings that expose a uniform API for defining commands, options, and sub‑commands.

The core features of CLOS include syntax‑highlighted help generation, customizable argument parsing, and a plugin architecture that enables integration with external services such as logging systems or configuration management tools. Unlike traditional CLI libraries, CLOS emphasizes a modular design where command definitions are separated from the execution logic, allowing developers to swap implementations without altering the interface.

Installation is typically performed through a package manager (pip for Python, go get for Go, and cargo for Rust). Basic usage involves creating a command registry, adding commands with `addCommand`, and invoking the main loop. Advanced usage patterns support asynchronous execution, command pipelines, and context propagation across nested commands.

CLOS has been adopted by a handful of projects in the DevOps and network management domains, notably as the backbone of the “SightOps” monitoring suite. The community maintains comprehensive documentation and a public issue tracker on GitHub. While still relatively niche, the framework has been praised for its clean separation of concerns and is emerging as a viable alternative to more monolithic CLI libraries.