Your app deservers its own CLI: Try sidekick

## Abstract

Automate everything! That's easier said than done.

A simple bash script in your /tool directory is a good start, but to be honest: None of us is "good at bash" and nobody really wants to learn it. It doesn't scale, doesn't support dependencies and is not testable.

Dart to the rescue! Sidekick generates a Dart command-line application for you. You can use the built-in command

- `deps` gets all dependencies for all packages
- `gen` runs the build_runner, and formats the code afterwards
- `format` runs dart format across the project, ignores generated files.

or use the project a starting point for you own commands to be shared with your team. Need some ideas:

- Automatically bump your version number
- Release your app to the Play Store / AWS / Firebase
- Generate a changelog based on the merged PRs
- Home-made build flavors: Switch between environments by editing and swapping of some files

Transcript

1. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
   sidekick
   A CLI for your app
   

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2. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
   Your app deserves its own CLI: Try sidekick
   Pascal Welsch
   Google Developer Expert
   Co-Founder of wiredash.io
   CTO at phntm GmbH
   Droidcon London 2022
   @passsy
   

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3. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
   

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4. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
   PHNTM
   ['fæntəm]
   Flutter Agency with 15 Flutter Experts from all across Germany
   

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5. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
   Automating our workday at PHNTM
   - Get dependencies for all packages
   - Bump app version
   - Update localization files
   - Create release notes with Jira tickets from merged PR descriptions
   - Standup: What are open PRs across multiple repos?
   - Publish releases
   

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6. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
   Where to place the automation code?
   

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7. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
   Bash scripts
   Pros:
   - Run everywhere (even on Windows)
   - No installation required
   - No compilation
   Cons:
   - Hard to write (unknown feature set)
   - Hard to read
   - No dependency management
   - No debugger
   - No testing
   

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8. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
   Gradle scripts
   Pros:
   - stable framework
   - bash entry, downloads gradle jar on
   demand
   - Debugging possible
   - Testing possible
   Cons:
   - Requires a JRE installed
   - Gradle is a build system, not a CLI
   - Flutter/Dart are not compatible with
   Gradle
   

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9. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
   Dart scripts in /tool
   Pros:
   - Dart is easy to read and write for
   everyone
   - pub dependency manager
   - Rich set of pub packages
   - Debugging
   - Testing
   Cons:
   - Shared dependencies with your app
   - functions of different scripts are hard
   to discover
   - Dart need to be installed
   - No fixed dart version for execution
   

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10. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    sidekick
    

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11. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    Sidekick CLIs combines the best of all worlds
    Bash entrypoint, no other software required on system.
    Auto-compile on change
    Self-executing, automatically downloads a dart runtime,
    compiles the cli and executes it
    Dart is easy to read and write,
    and extendable with dependencies from pub.
    Support for debugging and testing comes for free
    

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12. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    $ sidekick init
    $ dart pub global activate sidekick
    

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13. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    $ sidekick init
    $ dart pub global activate sidekick
    Dart CLI generator
    ● With bash entrypoint
    ● Self executable (automatically downloads dart
    runtime, auto recompile)
    ● Build-in commands for Dart / Flutter projects
    ● Write your own custom commands
    ● Share commands with others using the plugin system
    

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14. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    $ sidekick init
    $ dart pub global activate sidekick
    

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15. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    

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16. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    > vgs
    > sidekick init
    > y
    

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17. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    > vgs
    > y
    

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18. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    

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19. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    

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20. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    entrypoint
    Dart binary entry point
    Command registration
    Your custom commands
    magic bash scripts
    

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21. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    

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22. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    

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23. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    Extending your CLI
    

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24. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    Task: Build our app for web
    

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25. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    

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26. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    

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27. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    > vgs
    compile takes ~5s
    

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28. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    > vgs
    

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29. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    

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30. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    The Plugins System
    Share your commands with others
    

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31. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    $ sidekick plugins install
    Install a sidekick plugin from pub
    

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32. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    Plugin installation
    1. Download the pub package
    2. Get plugin dependencies with cli dart runtime
    3. Execute /tool/install.dart of plugin
    The plugin is now free to modify the cli package
    - Add dependencies
    - Add files
    - Modify files (to register Commands)
    

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33. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    

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34. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    Which plugin template should I use?
    Allow users to edit the
    Command code?
    yes
    no
    shared-command
    Wanna share some
    code with a pub
    package?
    yes
    no
    shared-code
    install-only
    

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35. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    Plugin template comparison
    install-only ● All generated code is directly accessible for devs
    ● Code can not be updated with pub upgrade
    

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36. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    install-only plugins
    sidekick plugins create
    \ -t install-only
    \ --name install_only_sidekick_plugin
    

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37. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    

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38. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    

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39. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    

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40. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    

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41. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    Which plugin template should I use?
    Allow users to edit the
    Command code?
    yes
    no
    shared-command
    Wanna share some
    code with a pub
    package?
    yes
    no
    shared-code
    install-only
    

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42. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    Plugin template comparison
    shared-command
    install-only ● All generated code is directly accessible for devs
    ● Code can not be updated with pub upgrade
    ● The generated command code can not be modified
    ● The command can be update via pub
    ● Inject properties via Command constructor
    

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43. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    shared-command plugins
    sidekick plugins create
    \ -t shared-command
    \ --name shared_command_sidekick_plugin
    

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44. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    shared_command_sidekick_plugin/tool/install.dart
    

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45. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    Which plugin template should I use?
    Allow users to edit the
    Command code?
    yes
    no
    shared-command
    Wanna share some
    code with a pub
    package?
    yes
    no
    shared-code
    install-only
    

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46. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    Plugin template comparison
    shared-command
    shared-code
    install-only ● All generated code is directly accessible for devs
    ● Code can not be updated with pub upgrade
    ● The generated command can be modified
    ● Command uses reusable functionality from pub package
    ● The generated command code can not be modified
    ● The command can be update via pub
    ● Inject properties via Command constructor
    

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47. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    shared-code plugins
    sidekick plugins create
    \ -t shared-code
    \ --name shared_code_sidekick_plugin
    

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48. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    shared-code plugins
    

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49. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    Which plugin template should I use?
    Allow users to edit the
    Command code?
    yes
    no
    shared-command
    Wanna share some
    code with a pub
    package?
    yes
    no
    shared-code
    install-only
    

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50. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    Plugins can be found on pub.dev
    

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51. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    github.com/phntmxyz/sidekick
    

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52. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    Please share your
    awesome cli commands
    as sidekick plugins
    with the community!
    github.com/phntmxyz/sidekick
    

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53. Sidekick by @passsy (Pascal Welsch)
    Your app deserves its own CLI: Try sidekick
    Pascal Welsch
    Google Developer Expert
    Co-Founder of wiredash.io
    CTO at phntm GmbH
    Droidcon London 2022
    @passsy
    

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