Build a CLI blog manager

Building a CLI (Command Line Interface) blog manager is a great project that involves basic CRUD operations (Create, Read, Update, Delete) for blog posts, stored locally (e.g., as files or in a simple database). Below is a complete Python example that lets you manage blog posts from the terminal. It supports:

• Creating new posts

• Listing posts

• Reading a post

• Updating a post

• Deleting a post

Each post is stored as a Markdown file (.md) in a folder named posts.

python
CopyEdit
import os
import sys
from datetime import datetime

POSTS_DIR = "posts"

def init():
    if not os.path.exists(POSTS_DIR):
        os.makedirs(POSTS_DIR)

def list_posts():
    posts = sorted(os.listdir(POSTS_DIR))
    if not posts:
        print("No posts found.")
        return
    for i, post in enumerate(posts, 1):
        print(f"{i}. {post[:-3]}")  # strip .md

def create_post():
    title = input("Enter post title: ").strip()
    if not title:
        print("Title cannot be empty.")
        return
    filename = title.lower().replace(" ", "_") + ".md"
    filepath = os.path.join(POSTS_DIR, filename)
    if os.path.exists(filepath):
        print("Post with this title already exists.")
        return
    print("Enter post content (end with a single '.' on a line):")
    lines = []
    while True:
        line = input()
        if line.strip() == ".":
            break
        lines.append(line)
    content = "n".join(lines)
    with open(filepath, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
        f.write(f"# {title}nn")
        f.write(f"*Created: {datetime.now().strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')}*nn")
        f.write(content)
    print(f"Post '{title}' created.")

def read_post():
    list_posts()
    choice = input("Enter post number to read: ").strip()
    try:
        idx = int(choice) - 1
        posts = sorted(os.listdir(POSTS_DIR))
        if idx < 0 or idx >= len(posts):
            print("Invalid post number.")
            return
        filepath = os.path.join(POSTS_DIR, posts[idx])
        with open(filepath, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
            print("n" + f.read())
    except ValueError:
        print("Please enter a valid number.")

def update_post():
    list_posts()
    choice = input("Enter post number to update: ").strip()
    try:
        idx = int(choice) - 1
        posts = sorted(os.listdir(POSTS_DIR))
        if idx < 0 or idx >= len(posts):
            print("Invalid post number.")
            return
        filepath = os.path.join(POSTS_DIR, posts[idx])
        with open(filepath, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
            content = f.read().split("n", 4)[4:]  # skip title, date header
        print("Current content:")
        print("n".join(content))
        print("Enter new content (end with a single '.' on a line):")
        lines = []
        while True:
            line = input()
            if line.strip() == ".":
                break
            lines.append(line)
        new_content = "n".join(lines)
        title = posts[idx][:-3].replace("_", " ").title()
        with open(filepath, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
            f.write(f"# {title}nn")
            f.write(f"*Updated: {datetime.now().strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')}*nn")
            f.write(new_content)
        print(f"Post '{title}' updated.")
    except ValueError:
        print("Please enter a valid number.")

def delete_post():
    list_posts()
    choice = input("Enter post number to delete: ").strip()
    try:
        idx = int(choice) - 1
        posts = sorted(os.listdir(POSTS_DIR))
        if idx < 0 or idx >= len(posts):
            print("Invalid post number.")
            return
        filepath = os.path.join(POSTS_DIR, posts[idx])
        os.remove(filepath)
        print("Post deleted.")
    except ValueError:
        print("Please enter a valid number.")

def help_menu():
    print("""
Commands:
  list    - List all blog posts
  create  - Create a new blog post
  read    - Read a blog post
  update  - Update a blog post
  delete  - Delete a blog post
  help    - Show this help menu
  exit    - Exit the program
""")

def main():
    init()
    print("Welcome to CLI Blog Manager!")
    help_menu()
    while True:
        cmd = input("nEnter command: ").strip().lower()
        if cmd == "list":
            list_posts()
        elif cmd == "create":
            create_post()
        elif cmd == "read":
            read_post()
        elif cmd == "update":
            update_post()
        elif cmd == "delete":
            delete_post()
        elif cmd == "help":
            help_menu()
        elif cmd == "exit":
            print("Goodbye!")
            break
        else:
            print("Unknown command. Type 'help' for options.")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

How to use:

1. Save the above code to blog_manager.py.

2. Run it with python blog_manager.py.

3. Use the commands shown (list, create, read, update, delete, help, exit) to manage your posts.

This script is easily extendable—for example, adding tags, categories, or publishing functionality, or connecting to a database. Let me know if you want me to build an enhanced version!