Software Engineering Radio - the podcast for professional software developers SE Radio 702: Derick Schaefer on Modern CLIs
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Jan 7, 2026 Derick Schaefer, a seasoned software engineering leader and author of 'CLI: A Practical Guide to Creating Modern Command-Line Interfaces,' shares insights on the evolution of command-line interfaces. He discusses the history from Unix systems to their modern resurgence in tools like Git and WordPress. Schaefer highlights the importance of the object-command pattern, API-first architecture, and the need for robust documentation for LLMs. He also covers implications of statefulness, credential handling, and user-friendly output formats, painting a vivid picture of the future of CLIs.
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What A CLI Really Is
- A CLI is an interface accessed via a terminal and shell that invokes programs to do discrete work inside an OS or application.
- Modern CLIs still rely on terminals but serve broader, varied workloads beyond traditional power users.
Rise, Fall, And Revival Of CLIs
- CLIs experienced a rise, decline with GUIs in the 90s, then a strong revival driven by Unix and developer tooling.
- Today CLIs are back at scale and used by nearly every developer for cloud and developer workflows.
Object-Command Model Enables Scale
- Modern CLIs favor the object-command (command/subcommand) model that organizes around nouns and verbs for scale and reuse.
- This model isolates code, supports global flags, and enables complex CLIs to remain maintainable.
