diff --git a/config.nims b/config.nims
index 050dd4e..0d9d4d2 100644
--- a/config.nims
+++ b/config.nims
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import std/[os, strformat, strutils]
 
 task test, "run tests":
   selfExec "r tests/tbbansi.nim"
+  selfExec "r tests/tcli.nim"
 
 task develop, "install cligen for development":
   exec "nimble install -l 'cligen@1.7.5'"
diff --git a/src/hwylterm/cli.nim b/src/hwylterm/cli.nim
index b217510..58e3457 100644
--- a/src/hwylterm/cli.nim
+++ b/src/hwylterm/cli.nim
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ proc bbImpl(cli: HwylCli): string =
     result.add indent(cli.usage, 2 )
     result.add "\n"
   if cli.flags.len > 0:
+    result.add "\n"
     result.add "[" & cli.styles.hdr & "]"
     result.add "flags[/]:\n"
     for f in cli.flags:
diff --git a/tests/tcli.nim b/tests/tcli.nim
index 091766d..c90201e 100644
--- a/tests/tcli.nim
+++ b/tests/tcli.nim
@@ -1,28 +1,17 @@
 import std/[
-  compilesettings,
-  os,
-  osproc,
-  strutils,
-  times,
   unittest
 ]
 
-const pathToSrc = querySetting(SingleValueSetting.projectPath)
 
-proc cliRun(cmd: string): string =
-  let (output, _) = execCmdEx(pathToSrc / "bbansi.out " & cmd)
-  return output.strip()
+import hwylterm, hwylterm/cli
 
 suite "cli":
-  setup:
-    let
-      cli = pathToSrc / "bbansi.out"
-      srcDir = pathToSrc / ".." / "src"
-      cmd = "nim c -o:" & cli & " " & (srcDir / "bbansi.nim")
-    if not cli.fileExists or getFileInfo(cli).lastWriteTime < getFileInfo(srcDir).lastWriteTime:
-      echo "   -> compiling test binary"
-      require execCmdEx(cmd).exitCode == 0
-  test "simple":
-    check "\e[31mRed\e[0m" == cliRun "[red]Red[/]"
-    check "\e[1;31mRed\e[0m\e[1m Not Red but Bold\e[0m" ==
-        cliRun "'[red]Red[/] Not Red but Bold' " & "--style:bold"
+  test "cli":
+    let expected = """[b]test-program[/] [[args...]
+
+[b cyan]flags[/]:
+  [yellow]-h[/] [magenta]--help   [/] []show this help[/]
+  [yellow]-V[/] [magenta]--version[/] []print version[/]
+"""
+    let cli =  newHwylCli("[b]test-program[/] [[args...]",flags = [("h","help","show this help",),("V","version","print version")])
+    check $cli == $bb(expected)
diff --git a/todo.md b/todo.md
index 71de928..38022e0 100644
--- a/todo.md
+++ b/todo.md
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 
 - [x] add cligen adapters to add colors with bbansi
   - [ ] add integration test check cligen
-- [ ] add generic help generator to accompany parseopt
+- [x] add generic help generator to accompany parseopt
+
 ## improvements
 
 - [ ] consider reducing illwill surface to only relevant IO (input) features
@@ -14,7 +15,7 @@
 - [x] make a basic choose one from list widget
 - [ ] tables/boxes?
 - [ ] confirmation proc
-- [ ]basic progress bar
+- [ ] basic progress bar
 - [ ] support for 256 and truecolors
   - [ ] support for rgb colors
   - [ ] modify 256 colors w/parser changes to be `"[color(9)]red"` instead of `[9]red`