From Ruby to Node: Overhauling Shopify’s CLI for a Better Developer Experience - Shopify

This post details the decision to rewrite the Shopify CLI from Ruby to Node.js, driven by a desire for fewer system requirements, a better developer experience, and alignment with web technologies. It explains the technical rationale behind choosing Node.js over Go or Rust (familiarity for internal teams) and highlights the benefits of Node's module system for building a modular architecture. Key architectural decisions include establishing a foundation for consistency via a shared NPM package (`@shopify/cli-kit`), ensuring cross-OS support through dedicated modules and CI testing, and consolidating components into a monorepo. The post also discusses the adoption of functional programming principles to improve code reasoning and testability.