**ASHAY CLI** [GitHub Copilot CLI Challenge]

This is a submission for the GitHub Copilot CLI Challenge

What I Built

ASHAY CLI — A compassionate command-line companion for emotional check-ins and grounding.

ASHAY (inspired by the Sanskrit word meaning "refuge" or "shelter") is a mental health CLI tool that helps you check in with your internal state and provides gentle, trauma-informed guidance based on how you're feeling.

When you run ashay checkin, it asks: "What's your internal weather right now?" and offers supportive responses for different emotional states:

• warm — Gentle breathing guidance when you're feeling open
• numb — Validation and grounding when you're dissociated or shut down
• clear — Mindful presence exercises when you're feeling stable
• stormy & foggy — (Coming soon) Support for overwhelm and confusion

This project is personal to me. As someone who understands how difficult it can be to navigate emotional states, I wanted to create a tool that meets people where they are — without judgment, without pressure to "fix" anything, just gentle companionship in the terminal.

Demo

Installation:

npm link

Usage:

ashay checkin
# ASHAY: What's your internal weather right now? (warm, numb, stormy, foggy, clear)
> numb

# ASHAY: Numb is a real state, and it's okay to be here...

You can also call states directly:

ashay warm
ashay numb
ashay clear

https://youtu.be/CvIM7pgE6pM

My Experience with GitHub Copilot CLI

GitHub Copilot was instrumental in helping me debug and structure this project. When I ran into module path issues (my require statements were pointing to the wrong directory), Copilot quickly identified the problem and fixed all three incorrect paths simultaneously.

What impressed me most was how Copilot understood the emotional context of my code. When I was writing the grounding prompts, it suggested language that was genuinely trauma-informed and compassionate — it understood that "numb" isn't something to fix, but to validate.

The CLI also helped me:

• Set up the bin configuration in package.json correctly
• Structure my command routing logic
• Debug issues with readline interface cleanup

Building a mental health tool requires both technical precision and emotional awareness. GitHub Copilot brought both to the table, making it possible to build something meaningful quickly while maintaining the gentle, human tone that ASHAY needs.

This project started as a way to support myself during difficult moments. With Copilot's help, it became something I can share with others who might need a compassionate voice in their terminal too.