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CLI Agent Skill

> Comprehensive R package for command-line interface styling, semantic messaging, (1) Format console output with inline markup and colors, (2) Display errors, warnings, or messages with cli_abort/cli_warn/cli_inform, (3) Show progress indicators for long-running operations, (4) Create semantic CLI elements (headers, lists, alerts, code blocks), (5) Apply themes and customize output styling, (6) Handle pluralization in user-facing text, (7) Work with ANSI strings, hyperlinks, or custom containers. Also use when migrating from base R message/warning/stop, debugging cli code, or improving existing cli usage.

26k tokens
context cost
the whole folder, loaded on every use
6
files
instructions only
0
copies elsewhere
how many repositories repackaged it
453
stars on the repo
on the repository, not the skill itself

Install

one command, takes just this skill from the repository
npx skills add https://github.com/posit-dev/skills --skill cli

The instruction itself

32 sections, as written by the author

CLI for R Packages

When to Use What

task: Display error with context and formatting

use: cli_abort() with inline markup and bullet lists

task: Show warning with formatting

use: cli_warn() with inline markup

task: Display informative message

use: cli_inform() with inline markup

task: Show progress for counted operations

use: cli_progress_bar() with total count

task: Show simple progress steps

use: cli_progress_step() with status messages

task: Format code or function names

use: {.code ...} or {.fn package::function}

task: Format file paths

use: {.file path/to/file}

task: Format package names

use: {.pkg packagename}

task: Format variable names

use: {.var variable_name}

task: Format values

use: {.val value}

task: Handle singular/plural text

use: {?s} or {?y/ies} with pluralization

task: Create headers

use: cli_h1(), cli_h2(), cli_h3()

task: Create alerts

use: cli_alert_success(), cli_alert_danger(), cli_alert_warning(), cli_alert_info()

task: Create lists

use: cli_ul(), cli_ol(), cli_dl() with cli_li()

Inline Markup Essentials

Use inline markup with {.class content} syntax to format text:

# Basic formatting
cli_text("Function {.fn mean} calculates averages")
cli_text("Install package {.pkg dplyr}")
cli_text("See file {.file ~/.Rprofile}")
cli_text("{.var x} must be numeric, not {.obj_type_of {x}}")
cli_text("Got value {.val {x}}")

# Code formatting
cli_text("Use {.code sum(x, na.rm = TRUE)}")

# Paths and arguments
cli_text("Reading from {.path /data/file.csv}")
cli_text("Set {.arg na.rm} to TRUE")

# Types and classes
cli_text("Object is {.cls data.frame}")

# Emphasis
cli_text("This is {.emph important}")
cli_text("This is {.strong critical}")

# Fields
cli_text("The {.field name} field is required")

Vector Collapsing

Vectors are automatically collapsed with commas and "and":

pkgs <- c("dplyr", "tidyr", "ggplot2")
cli_text("Installing packages: {.pkg {pkgs}}")
#> Installing packages: dplyr, tidyr, and ggplot2

files <- c("data.csv", "script.R")
cli_text("Found {length(files)} file{?s}: {.file {files}}")
#> Found 2 files: data.csv and script.R

Escaping Braces

Use double braces {{ and }} to escape literal braces:

cli_text("Use {{variable}} syntax in glue")
#> Use {variable} syntax in glue

For complete markup reference: See references/inline-markup.md for all 50+ inline classes, edge cases, nesting rules, and advanced patterns.

Pluralization Basics

Use {?} for pluralization with three patterns:

Single Alternative

nfile <- 1
cli_text("Found {nfile} file{?s}")
#> Found 1 file

nfile <- 3
cli_text("Found {nfile} file{?s}")
#> Found 3 files

Two Alternatives

ndir <- 1
cli_text("Found {ndir} director{?y/ies}")
#> Found 1 directory

ndir <- 5
cli_text("Found {ndir} director{?y/ies}")
#> Found 5 directories

Three Alternatives (zero/one/many)

nfile <- 0
cli_text("Found {nfile} file{?s}: {?no/the/the} file{?s}")
#> Found 0 files: no files

nfile <- 1
cli_text("Found {nfile} file{?s}: {?no/the/the} file{?s}")
#> Found 1 file: the file

nfile <- 3
cli_text("Found {nfile} file{?s}: {?no/the/the} file{?s}")
#> Found 3 files: the files

Helpers: qty() and no()

Use no() to display "no" instead of zero:

nfile <- 0
cli_text("Found {no(nfile)} file{?s}")
#> Found no files

Use qty() to set quantity explicitly:

nupd <- 3
ntotal <- 10
cli_text("{nupd}/{ntotal} {qty(nupd)} file{?s} {?needs/need} updates")
#> 3/10 files need updates

For advanced pluralization: See references/inline-markup.md for edge cases and complex patterns.

CLI Conditions: Core Patterns

Use cli conditions instead of base R for better formatting:

cli_abort() - Formatted Errors

# Before (base R)
stop("File not found: ", path)

# After (cli)
cli_abort("File {.file {path}} not found")

# With bullets for context
check_file <- function(path) {
  if (!file.exists(path)) {
    cli_abort(c(
      "File not found",
      "x" = "Cannot read {.file {path}}",
      "i" = "Check that the file exists"
    ))
  }
}

cli_warn() - Formatted Warnings

# Before (base R)
warning("Column ", col, " has missing values")

# After (cli)
cli_warn("Column {.field {col}} has missing values")

# With context
cli_warn(c(
  "Data quality issues detected",
  "!" = "Column {.field {col}} has {n_missing} missing value{?s}",
  "i" = "Consider using {.fn tidyr::drop_na}"
))

cli_inform() - Formatted Messages

# Before (base R)
message("Processing ", n, " files")

# After (cli)
cli_inform("Processing {n} file{?s}")

# With structure
cli_inform(c(
  "v" = "Successfully loaded {.pkg dplyr}",
  "i" = "Version {packageVersion('dplyr')}"
))

Bullet Types

  • "x" - Error/problem (red X)
  • "!" - Warning (yellow !)
  • "i" - Information (blue i)
  • "v" - Success (green checkmark)
  • "*" - Bullet point
  • ">" - Arrow/pointer

For advanced error design: See references/conditions.md for error design principles, rlang integration, testing strategies, and real-world patterns.

Basic Progress Indicators

Simple Progress Steps

process_data <- function() {
  cli_progress_step("Loading data")
  data <- load_data()

  cli_progress_step("Cleaning data")
  clean <- clean_data(data)

  cli_progress_step("Analyzing data")
  analyze(clean)
}

Basic Progress Bar

process_files <- function(files) {
  cli_progress_bar("Processing files", total = length(files))

  for (file in files) {
    process_file(file)
    cli_progress_update()
  }
}

Auto-Cleanup

Progress bars auto-close when the function exits:

process <- function() {
  cli_progress_bar("Working", total = 100)
  for (i in 1:100) {
    Sys.sleep(0.01)
    cli_progress_update()
  }
  # No need to call cli_progress_done() - auto-closes
}

For advanced progress: See references/progress.md for nested progress, custom formats, parallel processing, all progress variables, and Shiny integration.

Semantic CLI Elements

Headers

cli_h1("Main Section")
cli_h2("Subsection")
cli_h3("Detail")

Alerts

cli_alert_success("Operation completed successfully")
cli_alert_danger("Critical error occurred")
cli_alert_warning("Potential issue detected")
cli_alert_info("Additional information available")

Text and Code

# Regular text with markup
cli_text("This is formatted text with {.emph emphasis}")

# Code blocks
cli_code(c(
  "library(dplyr)",
  "mtcars %>% filter(mpg > 20)"
))

# Verbatim text (no formatting)
cli_verbatim("This is displayed exactly as-is: {not interpolated}")

Lists

# Unordered list
cli_ul()
cli_li("First item")
cli_li("Second item")
cli_end()

# Ordered list
cli_ol()
cli_li("First step")
cli_li("Second step")
cli_end()

# Definition list
cli_dl()
cli_li(c(name = "The name field"))
cli_li(c(email = "The email address"))
cli_end()

Common Workflows

Base R to CLI Migration

# Before: Base R error handling
validate_input <- function(x, y) {
  if (!is.numeric(x)) {
    stop("x must be numeric")
  }
  if (length(y) == 0) {
    stop("y cannot be empty")
  }
  if (length(x) != length(y)) {
    stop("x and y must have the same length")
  }
}

# After: CLI error handling
validate_input <- function(x, y) {
  if (!is.numeric(x)) {
    cli_abort(c(
      "{.arg x} must be numeric",
      "x" = "You supplied a {.cls {class(x)}} vector",
      "i" = "Use {.fn as.numeric} to convert"
    ))
  }

  if (length(y) == 0) {
    cli_abort(c(
      "{.arg y} cannot be empty",
      "i" = "Provide at least one element"
    ))
  }

  if (length(x) != length(y)) {
    cli_abort(c(
      "{.arg x} and {.arg y} must have the same length",
      "x" = "{.arg x} has length {length(x)}",
      "x" = "{.arg y} has length {length(y)}"
    ))
  }
}

Error Message with Rich Context

check_required_columns <- function(data, required_cols) {
  actual_cols <- names(data)
  missing_cols <- setdiff(required_cols, actual_cols)

  if (length(missing_cols) > 0) {
    cli_abort(c(
      "Required column{?s} missing from data",
      "x" = "Missing {length(missing_cols)} column{?s}: {.field {missing_cols}}",
      "i" = "Data has {length(actual_cols)} column{?s}: {.field {actual_cols}}",
      "i" = "Add the missing column{?s} or check for typos"
    ))
  }

  invisible(data)
}

Function with Progress Bar

process_files <- function(files, verbose = TRUE) {
  n <- length(files)

  if (verbose) {
    cli_progress_bar(
      format = "Processing {cli::pb_bar} {cli::pb_current}/{cli::pb_total} [{cli::pb_eta}]",
      total = n
    )
  }

  results <- vector("list", n)

  for (i in seq_along(files)) {
    results[[i]] <- process_file(files[[i]])

    if (verbose) {
      cli_progress_update()
    }
  }

  results
}

Resources & Advanced Topics

Reference Files

  • references/inline-markup.md - Complete catalog of inline classes organized by category, advanced patterns, nesting rules, and real-world examples
  • references/conditions.md - Advanced error design patterns, rlang integration, testing with testthat snapshots, migration guide, and anti-patterns
  • references/progress.md - Nested progress bars, custom formats, all progress variables, parallel processing, Shiny integration, and debugging
  • references/themes.md - Complete theming system with CSS-like selectors, container functions, color palettes, custom themes, and accessibility
  • references/ansi-operations.md - ANSI string operations (align, columns, nchar, etc.), hyperlinks, color detection, testing CLI output, and troubleshooting

External Resources

  • rlang - Condition handling and error objects integrate with cli
  • glue - String interpolation powers cli's {} syntax
  • testthat - Snapshot testing for cli output

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How to use it

Copy the folder

Take posit-dev/cli from the repository into ~/.claude/skills for personal use, or into .claude/skills inside a project.

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