Modernizes the CRE CLI's user interface by integrating the Charm ecosystem by ejacquier · Pull Request #243 · smartcontractkit/cre-cli

ejacquier · 2026-01-31T15:58:15Z

Summary

This PR modernizes the CRE CLI's user interface by integrating the Charm ecosystem (Lipgloss, Huh, Bubble Tea). This is a view-layer only refactoring - no business logic or Cobra command structure was modified.

Why This Refactoring?

To build a world-class developer experience, we needed a better foundation. Our previous approach had limitations:

No terminal ownership: Simple fmt.Print calls can't handle async operations gracefully
Basic prompts: The old promptui library offered limited customization and no modern UX patterns
Inconsistent styling: Colors and formatting were applied ad-hoc across commands
No async feedback: Long-running operations (API calls, deployments) had no visual feedback

The Charm ecosystem solves these by owning the terminal - it manages the view layer as a proper UI framework, enabling:

Spinners for async operations: Visual feedback during network calls, file operations, etc.
Rich form inputs: Tab-completion, suggestions, themed styling
Consistent branding: Chainlink color palette applied uniformly
Graceful interruption: Users can cancel long operations with Escape/Ctrl+C

Key Changes

1. New UI Package (`internal/ui/`)

Centralized styling and output functions:

// Before (scattered across codebase)
fmt.Println("Operation successful")
fmt.Printf("\033[32m✓\033[0m Done\n")

// After (consistent, branded)
ui.Success("Operation successful")
ui.Error("Something went wrong")
ui.Warning("Deprecated feature")
ui.Dim("Secondary information")

2. Chainlink-Branded Theme

All interactive elements use the Chainlink color palette:

Blue 500 (#375BD2): Primary actions, spinners, focused elements
Green: Success states
Orange: Errors (high contrast)
Gray scale: Secondary text, disabled states

3. Spinner for Async Operations

Reference-counted spinner that handles concurrent operations:

spinner := ui.GlobalSpinner()
spinner.Start("Connecting to API...")
// ... async work ...
spinner.Update("Processing response...")
// ... more work ...
spinner.Stop()

4. Modern Form Inputs with Huh

Replaced promptui with huh forms featuring:

Tab-completion for default values
Chainlink-themed styling
Keyboard navigation (Enter to submit, Escape to cancel)

huh.NewInput().
    Title("Project name").
    Placeholder(defaultName).
    Suggestions([]string{defaultName}).
    Value(&projName)

5. Enhanced Error Handling

New helpers for actionable error messages:

ui.ErrorWithHelp("Connection failed", "Check your network connection")

ui.ErrorWithSuggestions("Invalid config", []string{
    "Run 'cre init' to create a new project",
    "Check the config file syntax",
})

6. Graceful Cancellation

Long-running operations (like cre login) now support Escape/Ctrl+C with proper cleanup and user feedback.

What's NOT Changed

Cobra command structure: All commands, flags, and arguments unchanged
Business logic: API calls, file processing, validation logic untouched
Command behavior: Same inputs produce same outputs
Configuration: Settings files and environment variables unchanged

Libraries

Library	Purpose
Lipgloss	Terminal styling (colors, borders, layout)
Huh	Interactive forms and prompts
Bubble Tea	Terminal UI framework
Bubbles	Pre-built components (spinner)

Removed Dependencies

promptui - Replaced entirely by huh

Testing

All existing tests pass
Manual testing of all commands

- Create internal/ui/ package with centralized Lipgloss styles (styles.go) - Add output helpers for consistent styling: Title, Box, Success, Dim, etc. - Implement Bubble Tea spinner with reference counting for async operations - Add GlobalSpinner singleton for seamless spinner across CLI lifecycle - Update PersistentPreRunE to show spinner during initialization - Migrate cre init and cre whoami to use shared UI package

- Add spinner during file generation (copying, generating templates, contracts) - Show spinner during Go dependencies installation - Display dependencies in styled box after spinner completes - Fix Next steps box spacing and formatting - Refactor initializeGoModule to return deps instead of printing

- Add styled template functions (styleTitle, styleSection, styleCommand, styleDim, styleSuccess, styleCode) - Update help template to use Lipgloss styling - Style section headers, command names, tips, and URLs - Improve visual hierarchy and readability

- Add complete Blocks palette constants (Gray, Blue, Green, Red, Orange, Yellow, Teal, Purple) - Use high-contrast colors for dark terminal readability - Style titles/commands with Blue 400-500 for visibility - Style secondary info with Gray 500 (dimmed) - Create custom Huh theme with Blocks colors for forms - Update spinner to use Blue 500

- Add styled title and welcome message using Chainlink theme - Add Bubble Tea spinner with progress states throughout auth flow: - Preparing authentication - Opening browser - Waiting for authentication - Exchanging authorization code - Saving credentials - Show styled URL fallback when browser cannot open automatically - Display success message with next steps in branded box - Update spinner message during org membership retry flow - Update tests to include spinner in handler instantiations

- Add SilenceErrors: true to root command to disable Cobra's default error output - Display all user-facing errors with styled ui.Error() in Execute() - Errors now show with red color and ✗ prefix consistent with Chainlink theme - Internal debug logging via zerolog remains unchanged

- Add SilenceErrors: true to disable Cobra's default error output - Display errors with styled ui.Error() (red with ✗ prefix) - Set SilenceUsage in PersistentPreRunE to hide usage for runtime errors - Keep usage/suggestions visible for command typos and flag errors

consistent styling across the CLI

- Replaced prompt.YesNoPrompt with huh.NewConfirm forms - Removed stdin io.Reader parameter 2. Updated cmd/creinit/creinit.go: - Updated call sites to match new function signatures 3. Updated cmd/secrets/common/handler.go: - Replaced ~25 fmt.Print* calls with ui.* functions 4. Updated cmd/workflow/simulate/telemetry_writer.go: - Replaced fmt.Printf with ui.Printf - Removed unused fmt import 5. Deleted internal/prompt/ directory: - Removed entire old promptui-based package 6. Cleaned cmd/common/utils.go: - Removed unused MustGetUserInputWithPrompt function - Removed unused bufio and errors imports 7. Dependencies cleaned (go mod tidy): - Removed github.com/manifoldco/promptui - Removed github.com/chzyer/readline

cmd/creinit/creinit.go

cmd/creinit/go_module_init.go

cmd/template/help_template.tpl

internal/prompt/secret_windows.go

github-actions · 2026-02-03T19:08:13Z

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