CLI Commands

The ExisJS CLI provides tools for local development, production compilation, scaffolding, testing, database scripting, and environment auditing.

`exisjs dev`

Starts the development server with live file watching, TypeScript transpilation, and automatic port collision avoidance.

npx exisjs dev [options]

Options

Option	Type	Default	Description
`-p, --port <port>`	`number`	`3000`	Port to listen on (overrides `.env` and `exis.config.ts`).
`-H, --host <host>`	`string`	`localhost`	Host address to bind to.
`-e, --entry <file>`	`string`	`src/http/server.ts`	Custom entry file path to bootstrap the application.
`--force`	`boolean`	`false`	Start even if a dev server for the same port appears to be running.

Behavior

Port Collision Detection: If the specified port is in use, the CLI automatically increments to the next open port.
One server per port: .exis/dev-<port>.pid stops a second exisjs dev on the same port. A second instance on another port (--port 4010, for example against a test database) is allowed. A lock left by a crashed process is ignored once its port is free; --force skips the check.

`exisjs build`

Compiles the TypeScript application to production JavaScript, performs type-checking, and generates static route manifests.

npx exisjs build [options]

Options

Option	Type	Default	Description
`-o, --out-dir <dir>`	`string`	`.exis/server`	Output directory for compiled JavaScript assets.
`--no-clean`	`boolean`	`false`	Skip cleaning the output directory prior to compilation.
`--skip-env-check`	`boolean`	`false`	Skip build-time route and environment validation checks.
`--dry-run`	`boolean`	`false`	Compile and bundle without halting on missing environment variables.
`-m, --mode <mode>`	`string`	`production`	Environment mode to load (e.g. `production`, `staging`).

Type-checking on deployment hosts

Some hosts (Render, Heroku and others) install with NODE_ENV=production, which leaves out devDependencies such as @types/node. When @types/* packages listed in your devDependencies are not installed, exisjs build skips the type-check with a warning and still compiles. To keep the type-check on the host, set the install command to npm install --include=dev.

The same applies to the CLI itself: exisjs build comes from @exisjs/cli, a development dependency. Build where development dependencies are installed (a Docker build stage, or npm install --include=dev on the host), then install production dependencies only for the running server.

exisjs build also writes .exis/server/main.js, the production entry: node .exis/server/main.js starts the server in that one process, with NODE_ENV=production unless set otherwise.

Build Outputs

Compiles application source code into the specified outDir.
Emits pre-computed route manifests (.exis/routes-manifest.js) for O(1) route discovery at runtime.
Generates TypeScript environment definitions (.exis/exis.d.ts).

`exisjs clean`

Removes temporary build artifacts, compiled files, and cached manifests.

npx exisjs clean [options]npx exisjs cl [options]

Options

Option	Type	Default	Description
`-a, --all`	`boolean`	`false`	In addition to `.exis/`, also remove the `dist/` directory.

`exisjs start`

Starts the built server in the current process (the same as node .exis/server/main.js), with NODE_ENV=production. The server receives SIGINT / SIGTERM itself and shuts down gracefully.

exisjs start is part of the exisjs runtime package, not of @exisjs/cli: it works in production installs that leave out development dependencies (npm ci --omit=dev), so "start": "exisjs start" and npm start work on every platform. The other commands need @exisjs/cli.

npx exisjs start [options]

Options

Option	Type	Default	Description
`-p, --port <port>`	`number`	`3000`	Port to listen on.
`-H, --host <host>`	`string`	`0.0.0.0`	Host address to bind to.
`-e, --entry <file>`	`string`	`.exis/server/src/http/server.js`	Custom compiled entry file path.

`exisjs migrate`

Updates a project created before 0.10 to the current layout:

adds @exisjs/cli to devDependencies (and typescript, if the project has a tsconfig.json but did not list it);
lists the deployment lines to change, without editing the files: in the Dockerfile, a CMD through npm start, npm ci --omit=dev without --omit=optional, and exisjs build without --skip-env-check; in nixpacks.toml and Procfile, a start command through npm start.

npx exisjs migrate            # writes package.jsonnpx exisjs migrate --dry-run  # only shows the changes

Then run npm install. Running it again changes nothing.

`exisjs generate`

Scaffolds framework components and files according to ExisJS file conventions.

npx exisjs generate <type> [name] [options]npx exisjs g <type> [name] [options]

Arguments

Argument	Description
`<type>`	The schematic type to generate.
`[name]`	The name of the feature or folder (required for all types except `error`).

Options

Option	Type	Default	Description
`-n, --named`	`boolean`	`false`	Names generated files using the feature prefix (e.g. `user.route.ts`, `user.schema.ts`).
`--oop`	`boolean`	`false`	Generates using Class-Based (OOP) decorators instead of Functional syntax.

Supported Schematics

Schematic	Alias	Description	Output Location
`crud`	`resource`	Generates full 4-file CRUD slice (`schema`, `service`, `route`, `model`).	`src/http/<name>/` & `src/models/`
`model`		Standalone database-agnostic TypeScript entity interface.	`src/models/<Name>.ts`
`route`	`r`, `c`, `controller`	HTTP route endpoint definition.	`src/http/<name>/route.ts`
`service`	`s`	Injectable service with pagination utilities.	`src/http/<name>/service.ts`
`schema`	`sc`	Validation schemas with `tex` validators and pagination DTOs.	`src/http/<name>/schema.ts`
`boundary`	`b`	Folder-level boundary middleware configuration.	`src/http/<name>/boundary.ts`
`cron`	`job`	Scheduled cron background task.	`src/cron/<name>.ts`
`error`	`err`	Global error handler fallback.	`src/http/error.ts`
`plugin`	`p`	Reusable ExisJS plugin module.	`src/plugins/<name>.ts`
`middleware`	`m`	Standalone middleware handler function.	`src/middleware/<name>.ts`
`test`	`t`	Integration test file using `node:test` and `exisjs/testing`.	`tests/<name>.test.ts`

`exisjs routes`

Inspects and displays the complete application routing table in formatted tabular output or raw JSON.

npx exisjs routes [options]

Options

Option	Type	Default	Description
`-e, --entry <file>`	`string`	`src/http/server.ts`	Custom entry file path to discover routes from.
`-m, --method <method>`	`string`	None	Filter endpoints by HTTP method (e.g. `GET`, `POST`).
`-f, --filter <keyword>`	`string`	None	Filter endpoints by path, method, or source file keyword.
`--json`	`boolean`	`false`	Output routes and middleware metadata in JSON format.

`exisjs test`

Runs the test suite using the integrated Node.js test runner (node:test).

npx exisjs test [files...] [options]

Arguments & Options

Argument / Option	Type	Description
`[files...]`	`string[]`	Specific test files or glob patterns to run.
`--watch`	`boolean`	Watch for file changes and re-execute tests automatically.
`-u, --update`	`boolean`	Update snapshot assertions.
`-e, --entry <file>`	`string`	Custom entry file path to bootstrap before test execution.

`exisjs run`

Executes standalone scripts, migration utilities, or third-party CLI tools with ExisJS .env files automatically loaded into process.env.

npx exisjs run <scriptOrCmd> [args...] [options]npx exisjs exec <scriptOrCmd> [args...] [options]

Options

Option	Type	Description
`-e, --env <file>`	`string`	Path to a specific environment file to load.
`-m, --mode <mode>`	`string`	Environment mode to load (e.g. `production`, `staging`, `development`).

Examples

# Execute a TypeScript seed scriptnpx exisjs run src/database/seed.ts
# Run an external database CLI with ExisJS environment loadednpx exisjs run prisma migrate deploynpx exisjs run drizzle-kit push

`exisjs console`

Starts an interactive Node.js REPL environment loaded with the application context.

npx exisjs console [options]npx exisjs repl [options]

Options

Option	Type	Default	Description
`-e, --entry <file>`	`string`	`src/http/server.ts`	Custom entry file to bootstrap REPL context.

`exisjs doctor`

Runs an end-to-end diagnostic audit of the local project environment.

npx exisjs doctor

Diagnostic Checks

Runtime Environment: Validates Node.js version compatibility (Node.js 20+).
Project Structure: Verifies package.json, tsconfig.json, and application entry points.
Route Integrity: Audits src/http/ directory for naming conventions and orphan files.

`exisjs info`

Prints runtime environment details, including ExisJS version, Node.js version, platform, and operating system architecture.

npx exisjs info

`exisjs exports`

Lists all public subpath exports provided by the exisjs package.

npx exisjs exports

`exisjs init`

Initializes a new ExisJS project interactively in the current working directory.

npx exisjs init

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