I decided to transform my resume and contact information into something more "dev-friendly": an interactive business card that runs directly in the terminal.
This new version is actually a complete rewrite of a similar project I developed a while back in the npx_card repository. I chose to archive the old project and start from scratch to build something more robust and organized, which resulted in the new card-tui.
The idea is simple: instead of sending a PDF or a standard portfolio link, I can just say:
"Got Node installed? Just run npx ebdonato in your terminal."
💡 The Inspiration
The project was originally inspired by anmol098/npx_card. It turned the networking experience into something playful and technical at the same time. I’m not sure if he came up with the original idea, but it’s brilliant nonetheless.
🛠️ How to use
To view the card, you don't need to install anything permanently. As long as you have Node.js installed, just run:
npx ebdonato
🏗️ What's under the hood?
To build card-tui, I used (well, the AI used) some classic Node.js CLI libraries:
- Inquirer.js: To create the interactive menu.
- Boxen: To create that sleek border around the information.
- Chalk: To add color to the terminal and highlight links and job titles.
- Marked: To render the Markdown content.
- Open: To trigger and open links in the user's default browser.
🚀 Why do this?
Beyond being a creative way to introduce yourself, developing an NPM package focused on a TUI (Terminal User Interface) helps you understand:
- Package publishing and versioning on the NPM registry.
- Handling input and output streams in Node.js.
- Design focused on constraints (the terminal is limited, which forces simplicity).
The code is open-source on my GitHub for anyone who wants to use it as a template for their own: ebdonato/card-tui.
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