Name-On

Name-On generates a new Adjective-Noun-Number combo with each request. Useful for unique, human-readable names for projects, containers, or anything else.

Try it live: name-on.clintcparker.com

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Installation

CLI

Install the name-on command-line tool using any of these methods:

# Homebrew
brew install clintcparker/tap/name-on

# .NET Tool
dotnet tool install -g name-on

# Shell script (Linux/macOS)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/clintcparker/name-on/main/install/install.sh | sh

# PowerShell (Windows)
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/clintcparker/name-on/main/install/install.ps1 | iex

Web App

No installation needed. Visit name-on.clintcparker.com to use the Blazor WebAssembly app directly in your browser.

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CLI Usage

name-on [options]

Option	Description	Default
-n, --count <N>	Generate N names	1
-s, --separator <SEP>	Separator between parts	-
-f, --format <FORMAT>	Name format using: adj, noun, num	adj-noun-num
-v, --version	Show version
-h, --help	Show help

Examples

name-on                         # clever-otter-123
name-on -n 5                    # Generate 5 names
name-on -s _                    # clever_otter_123
name-on -f adj-noun             # clever-otter
name-on -f noun-adj-num         # otter-clever-123

Shell Completions

name-on completions bash >> ~/.bashrc
name-on completions zsh >> ~/.zshrc
name-on completions fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/name-on.fish
name-on completions powershell >> $PROFILE

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Customization Options

Name generation supports several customization options, available in both the web app and CLI:

• Format templates: Adjective-Noun-Number (default), Adjective-Noun, Noun-Adjective-Number, Adjective-Adjective-Noun, Noun-Number
• Joining styles: dash (-), underscore (_), camelCase
• Number range: configurable digit count and max value
• Word length filter: control minimum and maximum word lengths

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Architecture

Name-On is a Blazor WebAssembly (WASM) app that runs entirely in the browser, plus a cross-platform CLI tool. Both use a shared C# core library for name generation. There are no server-side APIs required.

Solution Structure

• name-on-core: Shared C# library with the core name generation logic
• name-on-blazor: Blazor WASM frontend, directly references and uses name-on-core
• name-on-cli: Cross-platform command-line tool
• name-on-unit-tests: Unit tests for the core library
• name-on-cli-tests: Tests for the CLI

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Development

Prerequisites

• .NET 8.0 SDK (pinned in global.json)

Build

dotnet build name-on.sln

Test

dotnet test name-on.sln

Run the Web App Locally

dotnet run --project name-on-blazor

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Roadmap

• Migrate to Blazor WebAssembly (WASM) only
• Remove Azure Functions and legacy static frontend
• Modernize deployment for static hosting
• Add customization options for name format
• Add CLI tool with cross-platform installation
• Theme packs / custom word lists
• Bulk generation and export
• History and favorites

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License

MIT