ff-cli

A pluggable command-line framework for building extensible CLI applications in Rust.

Features

🔌 Plugin-based architecture
🚀 Easy to extend with custom commands
📦 Ready for crates.io publication
🛠️ Multiple plugin integration approaches

Installation

cargo install ff-cli

Usage

ff-cli help
ff-cli version

Plugin Development

Approach 1: Compile-time Plugins (Recommended for initial release)

Create plugins as separate crates that implement the Command trait:

use ff_cli::plugin::Command;
use anyhow::Result;

pub struct MyCommand;

impl Command for MyCommand {
    fn name(&self) -> &str {
        "mycommand"
    }

    fn description(&self) -> &str {
        "My custom command"
    }

    fn execute(&self, args: &[String]) -> Result<()> {
        println!("Executing with args: {:?}", args);
        Ok(())
    }
}

Then add the plugin as a dependency and register it in main.

Approach 2: Dynamic Plugins (Future feature)

Enable the dynamic-plugins feature to load plugins at runtime from shared libraries.

Plugin Integration Approaches

1. Compile-time Integration (Current - Best for v0.1.0)

Plugins are Rust crates added as dependencies
Type-safe and fast
No runtime loading overhead
Easy to publish and version control

2. Workspace-based Plugins

Use Cargo workspace for plugin organization
All plugins in one repository
Share common code easily

3. Dynamic Loading with libloading

Load .so/.dylib/.dll at runtime
More flexible but requires careful API design
Enable with dynamic-plugins feature

4. WebAssembly Plugins (WASM)

Future approach using wasmtime/wasmer
Cross-platform, sandboxed execution
Good for untrusted plugins

5. Process-based Plugins

Each plugin is a separate executable
Similar to git subcommands
Maximum isolation, language-agnostic

Recommended Approach for v0.1.0

Start with compile-time plugins for the initial release:

Simpler to implement and maintain
Better performance and security
Easier for users to integrate
Can evolve to dynamic loading later

License

MIT OR Apache-2.0

ff-cli 0.1.0