GitHub Copilot Instructions for Node CLI Template

Related Templates (Choose the Right Template First)

This repository is a GitHub Template Repo for Node.js CLI tools.

If you are building…	Pick this template
Command-line tools and terminal workflows	node-cli-template
Web APIs, workers, long-running services	node-app-template
Reusable libraries published for import	node-module-template

Default behavior in this repo: proceed in CLI mode.

Fast Path

• Use ESM only (import / export)
• Keep command wiring in cli.js and CLI logic in lib/
• Write runtime tests in test/*.spec.js with node:test + node:assert/strict
• Write type tests in typetests/*.tst.ts with tstyche
• Validate with npm test before finalizing

Commands

• npm run husky-enable - enable git hooks (opt-in)
• npm run husky-disable - disable git hooks
• npm run test:node - runtime tests with coverage
• npm run check-type-tests - type-level tests
• npm test - full checks + tests

Lockfile policy: this CLI template does not commit a lockfile by default (package-lock=false in .npmrc).

Guardrails

MUST

• Preserve CLI ergonomics (bin, help output, exit codes)
• Keep changes minimal and template-focused
• Keep docs aligned with actual scripts

ASK FIRST

• Runtime dependency changes
• Public CLI interface changes (flags/commands/output)
• Large file moves or broad refactors

NEVER

• Introduce CommonJS runtime code
• Claim validation without running it
• Leave template docs with stale commands