Looking at the points you made and examples, I would cobble a similar tool with Django, writing only CLI commands with no HTTP endpoints. And most LLMs are already fluent in Django.

- Schemas and relationships live in models.py, actual data is persisted in Sqlite - I can dump to JSON or XML with Django utils for LLMs - Query engine can simplify reuse Django syntax, like `Firm.objects.get(owner_name__like="john", date__gt=2015)`, fetch related names, aggregate subqueries - Format as tables

The text-based software that would eat work management is one that embraces the incumbents rather than avoid them.

I want a bidirectional SaaS <=> YAML/JSON adapter. So that I can push and pull our CRM (and other SaaS utilities like project management) into a common (schematized) YAML format.

The YAML then can be analyzed and modified using LLMs and/or stored in git.

And then use the bidirectional sync to reconcile conflicts and push.

So I can do work processes on the console, and still collaborate with people who want the native web UI.

This is interesting, very similar to a project I am working on, which is a cli asset manager for a small repair shop. Basically, mine keeps track of service tickets, customers and inventory while being query-able to help identify trends in problem products or recall records for warranty disputes, etc. It's just a silly little project I started in my spare time because I got fed up with having to open up three pieces of software with clunky UIs and frequent crashes to accomplish what should be fairly simple and straight-forward tracking and analysis. My biggest hurdle was getting it to export to a nice looking PDF that could be emailed or printed later.

While mine is functional, yours looks A LOT more refined, so I think I will play around with it and see if I can't adapt it to my needs.

I try to work in the terminal as much as I can since that's where I'm most comfortable, but when it comes to business software like CRMs, HRMs or ERPs, especially geared toward smaller shops, the selection for terminal-based options is severely lacking.

Spent ages building my own work management system only to realise I was just taking the scenic route to eMacs.

Getting people to use the terminal to do things instead of the bloatware produced by Google/Microsoft tools is almost impossible...

I live in the terminal, but most people in my company, including developers rather stay away from it

I’d be interested in defining my business using a DSL but then ultimately I’d want that to be translated into a UI.

I’d love to simply map all the relationships between stock, assets, tools like invoicing, APIs all in a place like this.

But I have to agree I think CLI alone would result in it being usable by only me.

EDIT: just wanted to add I’m interested in where this project goes.

The age of LLMs is shifting the predominant modality of data towards plaintext. For people like us, it's easier to grok, and it allows all of the poweruser use cases. I think this is a great idea.

Looks ambitious but previous attempts at “Ops as Code” haven’t been promising.

I love the idea. More power to text-based tools, more power to the CLI.

But ... why invent a new file format? Why not just make in JSON, so it is easier to integrate in other toolchains (e.g. having a python script add customers based on external APIs without having to write your own output generator)?