Show HN: Crust – A CLI framework for TypeScript and Bun https://ift.tt/dj0GpOM

Show HN: Crust – A CLI framework for TypeScript and Bun We've been building Crust, a TypeScript-first, Bun-native CLI framework with zero dependencies. It's been powering our core product internally for a while, and we're now open-sourcing it. The problem we kept running into: existing CLI frameworks in the JS ecosystem are either minimal arg parsers where you wire everything yourself, or heavyweight frameworks with large dependency trees and Node-era assumptions. We wanted something in between. What Crust does differently: - Full type inference from definitions — args and flags are inferred automatically. No manual type annotations, no generics to wrangle. You define a flag as type: "string" and it flows through to your handler. - Compile-time validation — catches flag alias collisions and variadic arg mistakes before your code runs, not at runtime. - Zero runtime dependencies — @crustjs/core is ~3.6kB gzipped (21kB install). For comparison: yargs is 509kB, oclif is 411kB. - Composable modules — core, plugins, prompts, styling, validation, and build tooling are all separate packages. Install only what you need. - Plugin system — middleware-based with lifecycle hooks (preRun/postRun). Official plugins for help, version, and shell autocompletion. - Built for Bun — no Node compatibility layers, no legacy baggage. Quick example: import { Crust } from "@crustjs/core"; import { helpPlugin, versionPlugin } from "@crustjs/plugins"; const main = new Crust("greet") .args([{ name: "name", type: "string", default: "world" }]) .flags({ shout: { type: "boolean", short: "s" } }) .use(helpPlugin()) .use(versionPlugin("1.0.0")) .run(({ args, flags }) => { const msg = `Hello, ${args.name}!`; console.log(flags.shout ? msg.toUpperCase() : msg); }); await main.execute(); Scaffold a new project: bun create crust my-cli Site: https://crustjs.com GitHub: https://ift.tt/0hWOT1Q Happy to answer any questions about the design decisions or internals. https://ift.tt/KMcjwaQ March 17, 2026 at 11:43AM