# cacjs/cac

Simple yet powerful framework for building command-line apps.

Repository: https://github.com/cacjs/cac
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/cac
Language: TypeScript
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: command-line, framework, commander, minimist, cli, node, deno
Last push: 2026-06-16T06:06:45+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 73/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 87, release rhythm 40, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3884, "days_push": 78, "days_rel": 187, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 1}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 3124, forks 116 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:44.396575+00:00)

## What it is
CAC (Command And Conquer) is a lightweight, zero-dependency JavaScript/TypeScript library for building command-line applications. It provides a minimal API for argument parsing, options, git-like subcommands, and automated help generation.

## Use cases
- build a cli tool in node
- parse command line arguments in javascript
- add subcommands to a cli app
- generate help messages for a cli
- replace commander or minimist with a lighter parser
- build a deno command line app

## When to choose
- you want a tiny, zero-dependency CLI framework with a simple API
- you need git-style subcommands and option validation
- you're building CLI tools in Node.js or Deno with TypeScript

## When to avoid
- you need advanced features like interactive prompts or shell autocompletion
- you're building CLIs outside the JavaScript ecosystem
- you need heavy-duty parsing of complex argument grammars

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: cli, parser, routing
- domain: developer-tools, web-development
- platform: cli, cross-platform
- tags: argument-parsing, subcommands, typescript, zero-dependency, commander-alternative, command-line, nodejs, deno

## Member repositories
- cacjs/cac (main) score 73

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:44.396575+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T07:26:31.375646+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/cacjs/cac (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:44.396575+00:00, sha c2f59804a9c8)
  - registry_npm: https://registry.npmjs.org/cac (fetched 2026-08-29T09:41:39.169241+00:00, sha ab19e5c8181a)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.