A list of paid, free or open source C++ (C plus plus) CLI console/terminal user interface and command line interface libraries, plugins and tools including command line interfaces, functional terminal user interface, libedit and syntax highlighting. Sourced under a creative commons. This list will be updated regularly. Email over the URL, if you wish to be included.

C++ libraries for command line interfaces, functional terminal user interface, libedit and syntax highlighting

  • Argh! – A minimalist, frustration-free, header-only argument handler. [BSD]
  • Taywee/args – A simple header-only C++ argument parser library. [MIT]
  • Boost.Program_options – A library to obtain program options via conventional methods such as command line and config file. [Boost] website
  • Clara – A simple to use, composable, command line parser for C++ 11 and beyond. [Boost]
  • cli – A cross-platform header only C++14 library for interactive command line interfaces (Cisco style). [Boost]
  • CLI11 – Header only single or multi-file C++11 library for simple and advanced CLI parsing. [BSD]
  • clipp – Easy to use, powerful and expressive command line argument handling for C++11/14/17 contained in a single header file. [MIT]
  • jarro2783/cxxopts – Lightweight C++ command line option parser. [MIT]
  • docopt.cpp – A library to generate option parser from docstring. [MIT/Boost]
  • FINAL CUT – Library for creating terminal applications with text-based widgets. [LGPL]
  • gflags – Commandline flags module for C++. [BSD]
  • indicators – Activity indicators for Modern C++. [MIT]
  • linenoise – A small self-contained alternative to readline and libedit. [BSD-2-Clause]
  • linenoise-ng – A small, portable GNU readline replacement for Linux, Windows and MacOS which is capable of handling UTF-8 characters. [BSD]
  • Lyra – A simple to use, composable, command line parser for C++ 11 and beyond. [Boost]
  • Ncurses – A terminal user interface. [MIT]
  • oof – Convenient, high-performance RGB color and position control for console output. [MIT]
  • PDCurses – Public domain curses library with both source code and pre-compiled library available. [PublicDomain]
  • popl – A single-header templated command line arguments and ini file parser for C++ 11 and beyond. [MIT]
  • replxx – A readline and libedit replacement that supports UTF-8, syntax highlighting, hints, works on Unix and Windows. [BSD]
  • tabulate – Table Maker for Modern C++. [MIT]
  • TCLAP – A mature, stable and feature-rich library for defining and accessing command line arguments in ANSI C++. [MIT]
  • termbox – A C library for writing text-based user interfaces. [MIT]
  • cpp-terminal – Small header only C++ library for writing multiplatform terminal applications. [MIT]
  • FTXUI – C++ Functional Terminal User Interface. [MIT]
  • imtui – Immediate Mode Text-based User Interface. [MIT]

Tags: c++, open source, c plus plus, c++ tools, c++ plugins, c++ libraries, c plus plus tools, c plus plus plugins, c plus plus libraries, CLI console, terminal user interface, command line, command line interfaces, c++ functional terminal user interface, c++ libedit, c++ syntax highlighting, c++ readline, c++ text based interface

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Portions of this text under: MIT license