# dthree/vorpal

Node's framework for interactive CLIs

Repository: https://github.com/dthree/vorpal
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/vorpal
Homepage: http://vorpal.js.org
Language: JavaScript
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: cli, interactive, shell, node
Last push: 2023-09-19T15:51:28+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4028, "days_push": 1079, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 5625, forks 277 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:23.144821+00:00)

## What it is
Vorpal is a Node.js framework for building immersive, interactive command-line applications with a simple chained API. It provides built-in command parsing, tabbed autocompletion, persistent history, piping, prompts, and automated help.

## Use cases
- build an interactive CLI shell in Node.js
- create a REPL-like command environment for my app
- add tabbed autocompletion to a command-line tool
- build a CLI with piped commands and persistent history
- make an immersive terminal application with prompts
- parse commands with required, optional, and variadic arguments

## When to choose
- you want an interactive, shell-like CLI rather than a one-shot command
- you need built-in autocompletion, history, piping, and help out of the box
- you want an inquirer.js-based prompt experience inside your CLI

## When to avoid
- you only need simple one-shot argument parsing (use commander or yargs)
- you need a framework with active maintenance and modern Node support
- you are building a non-JavaScript CLI

## Facets
- artifact type: framework
- maturity: maintenance
- function: cli, web-framework
- domain: developer-tools, web-development
- platform: cross-platform, cli
- tags: interactive-cli, repl, autocomplete, command-parsing, inquirer, javascript, command-line, nodejs

## Member repositories
- dthree/vorpal (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:23.144821+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 2026-08-29T17:55:22.246144+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/dthree/vorpal (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:23.144821+00:00, sha 137cbff308ea)
  - homepage: http://vorpal.js.org (fetched 2026-08-29T08:50:18.394749+00:00, sha 33dbc4b8848a)
  - registry_npm: https://registry.npmjs.org/vorpal (fetched 2026-08-29T08:50:18.404109+00:00, sha e0ed9099bd61)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.