Give a command-line script a desktop window.

You already have a Commander or yargs script. GUI4CLI reads the flags, opens a window, and runs that same file.

The window runs your original script by its path on this computer, with the Node and dependencies installed here. It is not a standalone app you can send to someone.

The window is a windowd app. The first launch downloads about 200 MB of NW.js.

npm · npx · Node 20+ · local desktop window

What you get

Point it at a script. It finds Commander or yargs options (JSDoc and --help if those are missing), draws a form, and shows the command it will run.

Run starts the original file. Stdout and stderr stream in the window. You get an exit code and how long it took. Cancel stops the child process.

The next open prefills the last values you used.

--json prints the form and exits. No window. Use that in CI.

--build writes a windowd folder that wraps the script where it already lives. It does not copy the file, rewrite it, or emit a .exe. The generated folder keeps absolute paths to the original script and to this machine's Node, so it works only on this computer.

Quick start

npx gui4cli my-script.js

From this repo:

pnpm exec tsx src/cli.ts fixtures/resize.js

The first windowd launch downloads the NW.js runtime (~200 MB). After that, a typical Commander or yargs script opens as a form.

Flags live in the docs.

Limits

File and directory fields are text paths. There is no native picker yet.

--help fallback may run the script, and that run can have side effects. If detection still finds no fields, add gui4cli.config.js next to the script. Config does not skip the --help attempt.

Built by Catalyst Forge LLC.