te (手)

Your helping hand for command-line interfaces

te (Japanese: 手, "hand") is an interactive TUI wrapper that makes editing complex CLI commands easier by providing a form-based interface for modifying command arguments.

The Problem

Long command-line commands are hard to edit and reuse:

# Want to change just one parameter in this long command?
kubectl get pods -l app=asset -o custom-columns='POD:.metadata.name,RS:.metadata.ownerReferences[0].name' -w

# Have to manually edit the entire command string
# Easy to make mistakes with quotes, commas, etc.

The Solution

Simply prefix your existing command with te:

te kubectl get pods -l app=asset -o custom-columns='POD:.metadata.name,RS:.metadata.ownerReferences[0].name' -w

te will:

• 📋 Parse your existing command and extract all arguments and their values
• ✨ Present an interactive TUI form for editing values
• 💾 Display the modified command (without executing it)
• ⚡ Let you copy and run the command when ready

Features

🎨 Interactive TUI

Beautiful terminal interface built with ratatui that shows:

• All command arguments with their current values
• Editable form fields for each argument
• Real-time command preview as you edit

🔧 Universal Wrapper

Works with any CLI command. te simply parses your command string - no special support needed from the tool.

🚀 Edit, Don't Execute

te focuses on helping you build the right command:

• Shows the final command instead of executing it
• Copy-paste friendly output
• Safe to experiment - no accidental command execution

Installation

# With cargo
cargo install te-cli

# From source
git clone https://github.com/yusukeshib/te
cd te
cargo build --release

Shell Integration (Recommended)

For the best experience, enable shell integration to execute commands directly and access additional features like keybindings.

Zsh (~/.zshrc):

eval "$(te init zsh)"

Bash (~/.bashrc or ~/.bash_profile):

eval "$(te init bash)"

Fish (~/.config/fish/config.fish):

te init fish | source

With shell integration you get:

• ✅ te-run function - Wraps te to execute commands and add them to history
• ✅ Zsh only: Press Ctrl+T to invoke te on your current command line
• ✅ Commands are executed immediately after confirmation
• ✅ Commands appear in your shell history

Usage with shell integration:

# Use te-run to execute commands
te-run kubectl get pods -l app=myapp

# In Zsh: Type a command and press Ctrl+T to edit it interactively
kubectl get pods -l app=myapp  # Press Ctrl+T here

Usage

Basic Usage

Simply prefix your existing command with te:

# Edit a kubectl command
te kubectl get pods -l app=myapp -o json

# Edit a docker command
te docker run -d -p 8080:80 --name myapp -e ENV=prod nginx

# Edit an ffmpeg command
te ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -crf 23 output.mp4

# Even works with commands from history
te $(history | grep kubectl | tail -1 | cut -d' ' -f4-)

In the TUI

• ↑/↓: Navigate between arguments
• Enter: Edit the selected argument's value
• Esc: Cancel editing / Exit
• Ctrl+X: Confirm and display the final command

How It Works

1. Parse Command: te parses your command line to extract the base command, subcommands, and all arguments with their values
2. Present TUI: Shows an interactive inline form with current values pre-filled
3. Edit: You modify the values you want to change
4. Output: Prints the final command to stdout
5. Execute (with shell integration): The shell wrapper adds it to history and executes it

Comparison

Why "te" (手)?

In Japanese, 手 (te) means "hand" - representing:

• 🤝 A helping hand for complex commands
• ✋ Easy to type (just 2 characters)
• 🎌 Honoring the Unix philosophy with a Japanese touch

Roadmap

Current Phase (v0.1)

• Basic TUI interface
• Parse existing command arguments and values
• Pre-fill form with existing values
• Display-only mode (no execution)

Future Features

• Per-command configuration
  • Custom labels and descriptions for specific arguments
  • Custom input types (dropdown, checkbox, file picker)
  • Validation rules for argument values
  • Example values
  • Provider argument options from a specified command in the config.toml

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details

Credits

Built with:

• ratatui - Terminal UI framework
• crossterm - Cross-platform terminal manipulation
• clap - Command line argument parsing

Star ⭐ this repo if you find it useful!