Migration from cli-table3

cmd-table is a drop-in upgrade from cli-table3 for most use cases. The API surface is broader, the defaults are more modern, and TypeScript support is first-class. This guide covers the common migration patterns.

Install

Replace cli-table3 with cmd-table:

npm uninstall cli-table3
npm install cmd-table

Basic Table

cli-table3:

const Table = require('cli-table3');

const table = new Table({
  head: ['Name', 'Role', 'Status'],
});

table.push(['Alice', 'Engineer', 'Active'], ['Bob', 'Designer', 'Away']);

console.log(table.toString());

cmd-table:

import { Table } from 'cmd-table';

const table = new Table();
table.addColumn('Name');
table.addColumn('Role');
table.addColumn('Status');

table.addRow(['Alice', 'Engineer', 'Active']);
table.addRow(['Bob', 'Designer', 'Away']);

console.log(table.render());

Or, if you'd rather skip explicit columns and let cmd-table infer them from object keys:

const table = new Table();
table.addRow({ Name: 'Alice', Role: 'Engineer', Status: 'Active' });
table.addRow({ Name: 'Bob', Role: 'Designer', Status: 'Away' });
console.log(table.render());

API Mapping

cli-table3	cmd-table	Notes
new Table({ head: [...] })	new Table() + addColumn() per column	cmd-table separates schema and data more explicitly
table.push([...])	table.addRow([...]) or addRow({...})	Object form lets you skip column definitions
table.toString()	table.render()	Same intent, clearer name
colWidths: [10, 20]	addColumn({ name: 'X', width: 10 })	Width attached to the column, not the table
colAligns: ['left', 'right']	addColumn({ name: 'X', align: 'right' })	Alignment attached to the column
chars: { ... }	theme: 'rounded' | 'double' | ...	cmd-table ships 7+ named themes; theme overrides chars
style.head (color)	headerColor: 'magenta'	Constructor option
wordWrap: true	Built-in (auto when width is set)	No explicit flag needed

Theme Mapping

cli-table3's chars option lets you override individual border characters. cmd-table ships named themes that bundle a complete consistent set:

new Table({ theme: 'rounded' }); // ╭─╮ │ ╰─╯  (default)
new Table({ theme: 'double' }); // ╔═╗ ║ ╚═╝
new Table({ theme: 'doubleHeader' }); // double border for header only
new Table({ theme: 'thinRounded' }); // ╭┄╮ ┊ ╰┄╯
new Table({ theme: 'honeywell' }); // ANSI-art retro
new Table({ theme: 'void' }); // borderless
new Table({ theme: 'dots' }); // dotted

If you genuinely need custom chars, you can still override the theme. See Styling & Themes.

Cell Spans

colSpan and rowSpan work the same way:

cli-table3:

table.push([{ colSpan: 2, content: 'Merged' }, 'C']);

cmd-table:

table.addRow([{ content: 'Merged', colSpan: 2 }, 'C']);

Beyond cli-table3

Once you're migrated, you have access to capabilities that cli-table3 never offered:

• Interactive TUI — search, filter, paginate large datasets (interactive)
• Per-column formatters — currency, dates, conditional colors (data-ops)
• Visualizations — sparklines, heatmaps, progress bars (visuals)
• CSV / JSON / HTML / Markdown export (exports)
• Pivot tables & cross-tabs (data-ops)
• Diff tables — compare two datasets visually
• Async pagination — page through SQL queries or APIs without loading everything
• JSX/React syntax — declarative table config

Gotchas

• Default theme. cli-table3 uses heavy ASCII borders by default; cmd-table uses rounded. Pass theme: 'double' if you need the heavier look.
• Header colors. cli-table3 defaults to no color; cmd-table defaults to magenta headers and cyan keys. Override with headerColor if needed.
• compact: true in cmd-table removes row separators (similar to passing minimal chars in cli-table3).
• Strings vs cells. cli-table3 lets you mix strings and { content, ... } objects freely. cmd-table does too — same shape.

Need help?

If you hit a cli-table3 pattern that doesn't translate cleanly, open an issue at github.com/Aarul5/cmd-table/issues — most gaps are quick to add.