Menu System

The dx menu system is the heart of your terminal workflow, allowing you to organize commands, files, and interactive forms in a hierarchical structure.

Configuration Formats

dx supports multiple configuration formats for maximum flexibility:

YAML
TOML
JSON

items:
  - name: Build Project
    description: Compile and build the project
    cmd: cargo build --release
    alias: build

[[items]]
name = "Build Project"
description = "Compile and build the project"
cmd = "cargo build --release"
alias = "build"

{
  "items": [
    {
      "name": "Build Project",
      "description": "Compile and build the project", 
      "cmd": "cargo build --release",
      "alias": "build"
    }
  ]
}

Auto-Detection

dx automatically searches for menu files in this priority order:

dx.yaml, dx.yml, dx.toml, dx.json
menu.yaml, menu.yml, menu.toml, menu.json

Item Types

Commands

Execute shell commands with full PTY support

Files

Display files with rich Markdown rendering

Nested Menus

Organize items in hierarchical structures

Interactive Forms

Collect user input with dynamic field validation

Aliases for CLI Access

dx build        # Run aliased command directly
dx test         # Execute test suite 
dx aliases      # List all available aliases

Advanced Features

Create organized hierarchies with unlimited depth:

items:
  - name: "Development Tools"
    description: "Build, test, and deploy commands"
    children:
      - name: "Build Release"
        cmd: "cargo build --release"
        alias: "build"
      - name: "Run Tests"
        cmd: "cargo test"
        alias: "test"

[[items]]
name = "Development Tools"
description = "Build, test, and deploy commands"

[[items.children]]
name = "Build Release"
cmd = "cargo build --release" 
alias = "build"

[[items.children]] 
name = "Run Tests"
cmd = "cargo test"
alias = "test"

{
  "items": [
    {
      "name": "Development Tools",
      "description": "Build, test, and deploy commands",
      "children": [
        {
          "name": "Build Release",
          "cmd": "cargo build --release",
          "alias": "build"
        },
        {
          "name": "Run Tests",
          "cmd": "cargo test",
          "alias": "test"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Interactive Forms

Build dynamic forms that collect input and execute commands:

items:
  - name: "Deploy Application"
    description: "Deploy to specified environment"
    form:
      title: "Application Deployment"
      fields:
        - name: "environment"
          label: "Target Environment"
          type: "select"
          options: ["staging", "production"]
        - name: "version"
          label: "Version Tag"
          placeholder: "v1.0.0"
      submit: "deploy.sh {environment} {version}"

[[items]]
name = "Deploy Application"
description = "Deploy to specified environment"

[items.form]
title = "Application Deployment"
submit = "deploy.sh {environment} {version}"

[[items.form.fields]]
name = "environment"
label = "Target Environment"
type = "select"
options = ["staging", "production"]

[[items.form.fields]]
name = "version" 
label = "Version Tag"
placeholder = "v1.0.0"

{
  "items": [
    {
      "name": "Deploy Application",
      "description": "Deploy to specified environment",
      "form": {
        "title": "Application Deployment",
        "fields": [
          {
            "name": "environment",
            "label": "Target Environment",
            "type": "select",
            "options": ["staging", "production"]
          },
          {
            "name": "version",
            "label": "Version Tag",
            "placeholder": "v1.0.0"
          }
        ],
        "submit": "deploy.sh {environment} {version}"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Menu configurations support environment variable expansion and can reference relative file paths for maximum flexibility.

Getting started

Configuration

Features

AI Native

Configuration Formats

Auto-Detection

Item Types

Commands

Files

Nested Menus

Interactive Forms

Aliases for CLI Access

Advanced Features

Nested Menu Structure

Interactive Forms

​Configuration Formats

​Auto-Detection

​Item Types

Commands

Files

Nested Menus

Interactive Forms

​Aliases for CLI Access

​Advanced Features

​Nested Menu Structure

​Interactive Forms

Configuration Formats

Auto-Detection

Item Types

Aliases for CLI Access

Advanced Features

Nested Menu Structure

Interactive Forms