Commander
Complete Node.js solution for building command-line interfaces with minimal boilerplate.
Dev workflow and config npm MIT
Used in agent projects
185
1.5% of 12,697 public repos built with AI coding agents
Rank in dev workflow and config
#14 of 88
by use in those projects
Downloads
527M
npm, last 7 days, commander
GitHub stars
28.4K
last push Oct 10, 2026
How Commander is used
Commander is a dependency in 185 of the 12,697 public GitHub projects set up for AI coding agents that we scanned (1.5%), #14 of 88 in dev workflow and config. The most used alternative there is dotenv. Projects that use it most often also use chalk (50.8%), ora (35.1%), dotenv (45.9%). It is more common in projects set up for Devin Desktop (5.8%) than for GitHub Copilot (1.4%).
Often used with Commander
| chalk | 50.8% of Commander projects · 29.1× more than average |
|---|---|
| ora | 35.1% of Commander projects · 52.5× more than average |
| dotenv | 45.9% of Commander projects · 2.9× more than average |
| tsx | 36.2% of Commander projects · 3.6× more than average |
| TypeScript | 81.1% of Commander projects · 1.5× more than average |
| Vitest | 37.8% of Commander projects · 3.1× more than average |
| Zod | 44.3% of Commander projects · 2.6× more than average |
| Inquirer.js | 26.5% of Commander projects · 40.0× more than average |
By coding agent
| Claude Code | 2.6% of projects set up for it |
|---|---|
| Cursor | 2.2% of projects set up for it |
| GitHub Copilot | 1.4% of projects set up for it |
| Devin Desktop | 5.8% of projects set up for it |
| OpenAI Codex | 3.3% of projects set up for it |
| Gemini CLI | 3.0% of projects set up for it |
| Kiro | 5.5% of projects set up for it |
| OpenCode | 2.5% of projects set up for it |
Share of public repos configured for each agent that list Commander as a dependency.
Install
| Package | npm install commander |
|---|---|
| Main stacks | TypeScript / JavaScript (157), Next.js (14), Python (7), Rust (5) |
| Example projects | outsmartchad/onchain-dex-cli, kovrichard/catalyst, NeoLi00/memX, Doist/todoist-cli, formulahendry/mcp-server-code-runner |
Alternatives to Commander
| Tool | Used in agent projects | Downloads / wk | GitHub stars | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| dotenv npm Load environment variables from .env files into process.env. |
2,001 (15.8%) | 189M | 20.5K | BSD-2-Clause |
| python-dotenv pypi Load environment variables from .env files in Python applications. |
828 (6.5%) | 156M | 8,898 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Husky npm Modern Git hooks manager for running tasks on git events. |
797 (6.3%) | 36.2M | 35.3K | MIT |
| lint-staged npm Run linters on git staged files to catch issues before commit. |
591 (4.7%) | 29.5M | 14.7K | MIT |
| concurrently npm Run multiple npm scripts concurrently for efficient development workflows. |
572 (4.5%) | 22.2M | 7,856 | MIT |
| cross-env npm Set environment variables across Windows, Mac and Linux in npm scripts. |
265 (2.1%) | 25.8M | 6,521 | MIT |
| Pydantic Settings pypi Settings management and configuration from environment variables using Pydantic. |
251 (2.0%) | 96.8M | 1,475 | — |
| Rich pypi Python library for rich text and beautiful formatting in terminal output. |
243 (1.9%) | 117M | 57.5K | MIT |