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Build Your Own Internal CLI Tools Lightning Talk

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Michał (mihao) at wroclove.rb 2023 presents Helpling ToolBelt, an internal command-line tool. Context: Helpling runs separate applications per country (not multi-tenant), each with admin and client-side apps; developers used to connect via vagrant SSH and use Rails commands, but after migrating to Docker + Docker Compose (multiple containers, Mac/Linux sync differences, country env flags, a separate test container) they documented huge copy-paste commands in Confluence — a terrible developer experience. Solution: build an internal CLI. v1.0 was built on Thor, then migrated to dry-cli for better complex-command ergonomics, using the TTY toolkit (progress bars and other components). Started as thin wrappers over doc commands, grew sub-commands, automated fixes for common issues, supports both webpack and Expo front-end flows, and enables running end-to-end tests on CI against a test Rails server (reusing 90% of local-dev logic). Result: front-end developers no longer need help with Rails commands, backend developers no longer blocked on JS tasks. Message: build your own internal command-line tools — save your team time.

type
lightning-talk
talk Build Your Own Internal CLI Tools Lightning Talk
about
Thor tool
Mentions Thor as the initial framework for Helpling ToolBelt
talk Build Your Own Internal CLI Tools Lightning Talk
about
dry-cli tool
Current CLI framework used by Helpling ToolBelt
talk Build Your Own Internal CLI Tools Lightning Talk
about
Uses TTY components like progress bars
talk Build Your Own Internal CLI Tools Lightning Talk
about
Docker tool
Helpling's move from Vagrant to Docker motivated the CLI
talk Build Your Own Internal CLI Tools Lightning Talk
about
Helpling company
Case study is Helpling's internal tool
authored
Build Your Own Internal CLI Tools Lightning Talk talk
Speaker of the Helpling ToolBelt lightning talk
from_talk
Build Your Own Internal CLI Tools Lightning Talk talk
Main recommendation of the talk
talk Build Your Own Internal CLI Tools Lightning Talk
presented_at
Lightning talk presented at the session

Provenance

Created in
wroclove.rb 2023 Lightning Talks 2026-04-17 22:11
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