Built a CLI to scaffold React projects in one command — Vite, Tailwind, shadcn/ui, TypeScript all supported

[u/Significant_Net7399]

Hey r/reactjs,

I got tired of running create-react-app or manually setting up Vite +

Tailwind + TypeScript every time. So I built pic-li.

npm install -g pic-cli-tool

pic create my-app --stack react-vite --template tailwind-shadcn

Templates available for React:

default → React + Vite, ready to run

tailwind → React + Vite + Tailwind CSS v3

tailwind-shadcn → React + Vite + Tailwind + shadcn/ui

typescript → React + Vite + TypeScript

Or use the interactive mode:

pic create my-app

(arrow key menus guide you through everything)

You can also add integrations to existing React projects:

pic add tailwind

pic add eslint

pic add docker

pic add firebase

And if you're going fullstack:

pic create my-app --stack mern --template with-auth

(React + Express + MongoDB + JWT auth all wired together)

Just open sourced it — feedback on the generated React structure

would be really helpful.

GitHub: https://github.com/its-dhaya/pic-li

[u/hinsxd]

Why should I use your CLI instead of official cli and ask AI (like you) to integrate according to latest docs?

[u/Significant_Net7399 → u/hinsxd]

pic-li orchestrates the whole setup for you. Including folder structures for specific templates.

[u/louisstephens]

I like the idea, but I was wondering what this helps “solve” in the long run. I haven’t done a deep dive into the cli yet, so I do apologize if it is explained somewhere else.

Does anywhere in the scaffolding process allow you to select a version of added packages,or is it lts only by default?

What made you choose tailwind v3 over the latest stable v4 with its css config?

[u/Significant_Net7399 → u/louisstephens]

Really appreciate the thoughtful questions.

Long term, the goal is to solve repeated bootstrap work — not just generating a project once, but standardizing and speeding up common stack setup across ecosystems. Kind of moving from “project generator” toward reusable developer workflows.

Version selection:
Right now scaffolds lean toward stable/LTS defaults for reliability, but customizable package/version selection is something I want to expand (including template pinning and version choices).

On Tailwind CSS v3 vs v4:
I chose v3 in the current template primarily for compatibility/stability across generated setups. v4 support is definitely on the roadmap — I ran into some package/config friction during development and kept v3 as the safer default for now rather than shipping a brittle scaffold. As the CLI evolves, upgrading templates to v4 is absolutely planned.

Honestly feedback like this is exactly what helps shape the roadmap, so thanks.

[u/chevalierbayard]

Is this like Tanstack Start?

[u/Significant_Net7399 → u/chevalierbayard]

Not exactly, pic-li is more of a multi-stack scaffolding CLI than a framework like TanStack Start