Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Yakari – Interactive TUIs for CLI tools

Hi HN! I wanted to share Yakari, a tool I built to make command-line interfaces more approachable through interactive TUIs. If you've ever forgotten CLI flags or needed to look up command syntax, this might help. Yakari turns complex commands into interactive menus. Users can navigate through options with simple key presses instead of memorizing complex command structures. If you've used Emacs and Magit (or any other Transient) before, the interface will feel familiar. Features: - Transform CLIs into guided menus - Create custom menus for any CLI - Support for flags, named parameters,…

Yakari is a tool that transforms command-line interfaces into interactive text-based menus, making CLI tools more accessible to users who struggle with complex syntax and flags. Instead of memorizing commands, users… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Yakari – Interactive TUIs for CLI tools launched in 2024; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1. 1
   Magic-cli – A copilot for your command line▲158

   Blog post: https://guywaldman.com/posts/introducing-magic-cli

   2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

2. 2
   kbar▲486

   Add a beautiful & extensible cmd+k interface to your site

   2021 · kbar.vercel.app · its alternatives →

3. 3
   Interactive exercises for Linux CLI text processing commands▲69

   Last month, I started learning a Python TUI framework called Textual. After working on a 4x4 board game, I made an interactive app to test your CLI text processing skills with 40 beginner to intermediate level exercises. The app is fairly basic in terms of features — only single input file, so no stdin data, multiple files, etc. Most of the exercises in this app is based on my Computing from the Command Line ebook (https://learnbyexample.github.io/cli-computing/preface.html). I hope to improve the TUI app to support all the 200+ exercises sometime next year.

   2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

4. 4
   Get answers for shell commands from GPT3 from your terminal▲159

   I was constantly googling CLI commands so I built this small CLI tool with GPT3. You can ask for shell commands right from the CLI. You'd need to use your own API KEY for this but it's pretty simple, instructions are in the README Not perfect but not bad either.

   2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

5. 5
   A CLI that makes LLMs convenient to use for developers▲26

   Command-line interface for the Arcane Engine. Contribute to arc-eng/cli development by creating an account on GitHub.

   2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

6. 6
   Promptui – Rich UI elements for cli prompts in Go▲196

   Interactive prompt for command-line applications. Contribute to manifoldco/promptui development by creating an account on GitHub.

   2017 · github.com · its alternatives →

7. 7
   Ell – A command-line interface for LLMs written in Bash▲214

   Hi HN! I've created a CLI tool called "ell" that allows you to interact with LLMs directly from your terminal. Designed with the Unix philosophy in mind, ell is simple, modular, and extensible. You can easily pipe input and output to integrate with other tools. Its templates and hook-based plugins enable you to customize and extend its functionality to suit any needs. Check out the README for usage instructions and examples. I developed this tool because existing solutions often felt too heavy, with many dependencies, or they weren't friendly to piping and customization. I, on the contrary,…

   2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

8. 8
   Rich-CLI – A CLI toolbox for highlighting, Markdown, JSON and rich text▲126

   Rich-cli is a command line toolbox for fancy output in the terminal - Textualize/rich-cli

   2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

9. 9
   Figma-use – CLI to control Figma for AI agents▲115

   I'm Dan, and I built a CLI that lets AI agents design in Figma. What it does: 100 commands to create shapes, text, frames, components, modify styles, export assets. JSX importing that's ~100x faster than any plugin API import. Works with any LLM coding assistant. Why I built it: The official Figma MCP server can only read files. I wanted AI to actually design — create buttons, build layouts, generate entire component systems. Existing solutions were either read-only or required verbose JSON schemas that burn through tokens. Demo (45 sec): https://youtu.be/9eSYVZRle7o Tech…

   Jan 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

10. 10
    DALL·E Cli▲111

    Image generation, editing & filters from the command line

    2023 · ivanojanguren.com · its alternatives →

11. 11
    Unix tool that visualizes shell commands usage▲98

    🐚📊 Show off your most used shell commands. Contribute to irevenko/tsukae development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2021 · github.com · its alternatives →

12. 12
    Add a command-line interface to any C++ program▲119

    Add a command interpreter (eg., REPL) to any C++ program - empirical-soft/command-interpreter

    2021 · github.com · its alternatives →

13. 13
    A command-line utility-belt for hacking JSON and Javascript▲68

    Command-line utility-belt for hacking JSON and Javascript. - GitHub - ddopson/underscore-cli at hn

    2012 · github.com · its alternatives →

14. 14
    mdi-cli▲92

    Generate material design icons from the command line

    2018 · github.com · its alternatives →

15. 15
    I made a CLI tool that turns pixels into emojis▲105

    Takes a folder of images (as a palette), and an image, and figures out how to tile the palette to resemble the image! - ahhhh6980/Mosaic

    2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

16. 16
    Lightweight time-management CLI tool▲72

    Lightweight time management CLI tool . Contribute to liviu-/ding development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2016 · github.com · its alternatives →

17. 17
    IRedis: CLI for Redis with AutoCompletion and Syntax Highlighting▲97

    Interactive Redis: A Terminal Client for Redis with AutoCompletion and Syntax Highlighting. - laixintao/iredis

    2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

18. 18
    Rust based AWS Lambda Logs Viewer (TUI)▲57

    My first Rust program with support from Cursor :)). few days for idea. 1 night for "talk and fight" with Cursor

    2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

19. 19
    CLI for Toptal Developer Blogs▲73

    Command line interface to read developer and designer blogs

    2016 · github.com · its alternatives →

20. 20
    An interactive CLI ArXiv explorer▲21

    CLI tool for exploring arXiv (inspired by karpathy's brilliant ArXiv Sanity Preserver) - knguyenanhoa/cli-arxiv

    2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

21. 21
    A TUI for Markdown view an editing▲20

    Hi HN, I built a simple TUI for viewing and editing .md files in the terminal. More and more markdown files keep appearing in our projects, and I found myself needing a quick way to view(with syntax highlighting) and edit them without leaving the terminal, so I built this

    Apr 2026 · mdee.bkh.dev · its alternatives →

22. 22AC
    A CLI for HNSearch▲56

    2012 · zachwill.github.com · its alternatives →

23. 23
    TUI-use: Let AI agents control interactive terminal programs▲52

    tui-use lets agents interact with programs that expect a human at the keyboard — REPLs, debuggers, TUI apps, and anything else bash can't reach. - onesuper/tui-use

    Apr 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

24. 24
    AI CLI▲17

    ai tool sends your requests to a local LLM and executes directly returned actions in your shell. Source is single C file - vkataev/ai-cli

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →