Ask YC: Review my app (pycmds, a web-based command line)

Currently the commands that are available are there just for demonstration purposes. I think it will become more useful when users add their own commands, which will be pretty simple to do once I complete the sandbox.

As for the verbosity, it's there because once you read the command, you should be able to tell: 1. what it does, and 2. what type of input is required

Typing shouldn't be a problem with auto-complete. It should actually be faster than a normal command line!

Thanks for asking :)

Adding the brackets greatly simplifies things for the implementation of the command dispatcher/suggester. In addition, in some situations it can be difficult tell what part of the command is an input and what isn't.

For example, let's say a user intends to use the command: translate [text] to [language]

They type:

translate hey buddy! i found this neat guide to japanese

There are two ways to interpret this, both of which are valid:

1. The user typed a full command.

Bracketed version:

translate [hey buddy! i found this neat guide] to [japanese]

2. The user isn't finished writing the text to be translated, and should get a list of suggestions.

Bracketed version:

translate [hey buddy! i found this neat guide to japanese]

I made this app because traditional command lines are often tricky to use. I don't enjoy looking up documentation for each and every command argument.

With this method, you get suggestions at every step of the way (try typing "films starring [").

It's an appengine app

"... It would be helpful if ..."

Of course yubnub couldn't be improved or made easier? Having said that it does claim to be a CLI.

To be honest it's too slow to be of any use. It just feels clunky. I would use it if it were fast, but having to wait for the javascript to catchup is pointless. The autocomplete doesn't help when it pops up after I have paused for a second. If I type "you" very fast and hit tab, it won't always autosuggest in time. To make things worse, you are going to be directly competing against Ubiquity.

Another big annoyance is how dumbed down it makes a terminal. If I want to do a youtube search i feel like I should be able to simply write "youtube blue man group". I don't want to have to add in "search for" or add in square brackets around my query.

The main problem is that I can see that it's there. I use a terminal to avoid having to interact with an interface. I agree with Google's Chrome philosophy, that they don't want you to notice the browser at all. Spend your time figuring out how to make it faster and easier and then you've got something you can show off. I would be worried about Ubiquity though as a browser plugin can work so much faster than javascript.