Native CLI Quickstart

Native CLI Quickstart#

This quickstart shows a simple but proper MoonBit CLI layout:

  • keep argument parsing and business logic in a library package

  • keep cmd/main small

  • use moonbitlang/async for native IO

  • test the pure parts without touching the network

This example uses moonbitlang/async, which currently supports the native backend best.

Create the project#

Start with a normal MoonBit module:

moon new download_cli
cd download_cli
moon add moonbitlang/async@0.17.0

argparse is already part of the standard library, so this quickstart only adds moonbitlang/async.

Set the preferred target to native in moon.mod.json so moon run and moon build default to the backend that moonbitlang/async supports best:

{
  "name": "username/download_cli",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "deps": {
    "moonbitlang/async": "0.17.0"
  },
  "preferred-target": "native"
}

The final layout will look like this:

download_cli
├── cmd
│   └── main
│       ├── main.mbt
│       └── moon.pkg
├── cli_test.mbt
├── config.mbt
├── download.mbt
├── moon.mod.json
└── moon.pkg

Keep parsing in the library package#

The root package defines the CLI contract. It owns the command shape and turns argv into a typed config value:

pub struct Config {
  url : String
  output : String?
} derive(Eq)

///|
pub fn command() -> @argparse.Command {
  @argparse.Command::new(
    "moon-fetch",
    about="Download a URL to stdout or a file",
    options=[
      @argparse.OptionArg::new(
        "output",
        short='o',
        about="Write the response body to this file",
      ),
    ],
    positionals=[
      @argparse.PositionArg::new(
        "url",
        about="HTTP or HTTPS URL to download",
        num_args=@argparse.ValueRange::single(),
      ),
    ],
  )
}

///|
pub fn parse_config(argv : ArrayView[String]) -> Config raise {
  let matches = @argparse.parse(command(), argv~)
  let values : Map[String, Array[String]] = matches.values
  guard values is { "url": [url], "output"? : output_paths, .. } else {
    fail("missing url")
  }
  let output = match output_paths {
    Some([output, ..]) => Some(output)
    _ => None
  }
  { url, output }
}

The package descriptor imports argparse from moonbitlang/core and the async libraries used by the implementation:

import {
  "moonbitlang/core/argparse",
  "moonbitlang/core/test",
  "moonbitlang/async/fs",
  "moonbitlang/async/http",
  "moonbitlang/async/stdio",
}

Put async IO behind one function#

run performs the actual download. If -o is passed, it streams the body into a file. Otherwise it writes directly to stdout:

pub async fn run(config : Config) -> Unit {
  let (response, body) = @http.get_stream(config.url)
  defer body.close()

  guard response.code is (200..<300) else {
    fail("download failed: \{response.code} \{response.reason}")
  }

  match config.output {
    Some(path) => {
      let file = @fs.create(path, permission=0o644)
      defer file.close()
      file.write_reader(body)
      @stdio.stderr.write("saved \{config.url} to \{path}\n")
    }
    None => @stdio.stdout.write_reader(body)
  }
}

Keep main thin#

cmd/main should usually do only wiring: read argv, build config, and call the library entrypoint.

import {
  "moonbit-community/cli-quickstart-doc" @app,
  "moonbitlang/core/env",
  "moonbitlang/async",
}

options(
  "is-main": true,
)

async fn main {
  let argv = @env.args()
  let config = @app.parse_config(argv[1:])
  @app.run(config)
}

Run the command#

Write the response body to stdout:

moon run cmd/main https://example.com/feed.xml

Write it to a file:

moon run cmd/main https://example.com/feed.xml -o feed.xml

Build a native binary:

moon build --target native

Test the pure part#

The parser and config shaping logic stay easy to test because they do not perform IO:

///|
test "parse config for stdout" {
  let config = parse_config(["https://example.com/feed.xml"])
  assert_eq(config.url, "https://example.com/feed.xml")
  @test.assert_eq(config.output, None)
}

///|
test "parse config for file output" {
  let config = parse_config(["https://example.com/feed.xml", "-o", "feed.xml"])
  assert_eq(config.url, "https://example.com/feed.xml")
  guard config.output is Some(path) else { fail("expected an output path") }
  assert_eq(path, "feed.xml")
}

Run the tests with:

moon test

When the CLI grows, keep following the same split:

  • parse and validate inputs in the library package

  • keep side effects in a small number of async functions

  • keep cmd/main focused on wiring

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