Vercel CLI with TUI for Enhanced Project Management

Discussions
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Overview

This proposal outlines the development of a Command-Line Interface (CLI) tool with a Text-Based User Interface (TUI) to enhance the developer experience when managing Vercel projects. The tool, written in Go, aims to simplify common workflows such as viewing logs, monitoring deployments, previewing changes, and rolling back versions, all from the command line.

Features

1. Real-Time Logs Viewer

  • Description:
    Provides an interactive way to view real-time logs of Vercel deployments, requests, and errors directly within the terminal.
  • Capabilities:
    • Filter logs by project, deployment, or type (e.g., error, info).
    • Search and highlight specific log entries.
    • Export logs for further analysis.

2. Deployment Previews

  • Description:
    Enables developers to preview their deployments without leaving the terminal.
  • Capabilities:
    • Generate and display URLs for previews.
    • Show differences between production and preview environments.
    • Allow interaction with generated previews (e.g., opening in browser).

3. Monitoring Dashboard

  • Description:
    Offers a TUI-based dashboard for monitoring the health and status of deployments.
  • Capabilities:
    • Display metrics such as response times, uptime, and error rates.
    • Track deployment history and statuses.
    • Provide notifications for critical issues.

4. Version Rollbacks

  • Description:
    Simplifies the process of rolling back to a previous deployment in case of issues.
  • Capabilities:
    • List previous versions with timestamps and commit messages.
    • Initiate rollbacks interactively.
    • Validate rollback success with automated checks.

5. Environment Variable Management

  • Description:
    Allows developers to view, add, edit, and delete environment variables from the CLI.
  • Capabilities:
    • Securely manage sensitive environment variables.
    • Audit changes to variables with timestamps and user information.

6. Integration with Vercel API

  • Description:
    Utilizes the Vercel API to ensure all actions are synchronized with the Vercel dashboard.
  • Capabilities:
    • Seamless updates to projects and deployments.
    • Real-time data fetching and interaction.

Technical Implementation

  • Language: Go
  • Libraries:
  • Design Principles:
    • Modular and extensible architecture.
    • Lightweight and performant.
    • Secure handling of API tokens and sensitive data.

Benefits

  1. Enhanced Productivity:
    • Streamlines workflows by providing all essential tools in one interface.
  2. Improved Developer Experience:
    • Reduces the need to switch between multiple tools and dashboards.
  3. Community Value:
    • Promotes collaboration and adoption within the Vercel developer community.
  4. Open Source Contribution:
    • Encourages community-driven development and feature suggestions.

Next Steps

  1. Define Requirements:
    • Gather feedback from the Vercel community to prioritize features.
  2. Create a Prototype:
    • Develop an MVP focusing on logs and monitoring.
  3. Iterate and Expand:
    • Add additional features based on user feedback.
  4. Launch:
    • Publish the tool as an open-source project with comprehensive documentation.

Conclusion

This CLI tool with a TUI interface will empower Vercel users by bringing essential project management features directly to the terminal. With a focus on usability, performance, and community involvement, it has the potential to become an indispensable tool for developers leveraging Vercel.

Let’s collaborate to make this a reality!