CLI command reference

nest new

Creates a new (standard mode) Nest project.

$ nest new <name> [options]
$ nest n <name> [options]

Description

Creates and initializes a new Nest project. Prompts for package manager.

• Creates a folder with the given <name>
• Populates the folder with configuration files
• Creates sub-folders for source code (/src) and end-to-end tests (/test)
• Populates the sub-folders with default files for app components and tests

Arguments

Argument	Description
<name>	The name of the new project

Options

Option	Description
--dry-run	Reports changes that would be made, but does not change the filesystem. Alias: -d
--skip-git	Skip git repository initialization. Alias: -g
--skip-install	Skip package installation. Alias: -s
--package-manager [package-manager]	Specify package manager. Use npm, yarn, or pnpm. Package manager must be installed globally. Alias: -p
--language [language]	Specify programming language (TS or JS). Alias: -l
--collection [collectionName]	Specify schematics collection. Use package name of installed npm package containing schematic. Alias: -c
--strict	Start the project with the following TypeScript compiler flags enabled: strictNullChecks, noImplicitAny, strictBindCallApply, forceConsistentCasingInFileNames, noFallthroughCasesInSwitch

nest generate

Generates and/or modifies files based on a schematic

$ nest generate <schematic> <name> [options]
$ nest g <schematic> <name> [options]

Arguments

Argument	Description
<schematic>	The schematic or collection:schematic to generate. See the table below for the available schematics.
<name>	The name of the generated component.

Schematics

Name	Alias	Description
app		Generate a new application within a monorepo (converting to monorepo if it's a standard structure).
library	lib	Generate a new library within a monorepo (converting to monorepo if it's a standard structure).
class	cl	Generate a new class.
controller	co	Generate a controller declaration.
decorator	d	Generate a custom decorator.
filter	f	Generate a filter declaration.
gateway	ga	Generate a gateway declaration.
guard	gu	Generate a guard declaration.
interface	itf	Generate an interface.
interceptor	itc	Generate an interceptor declaration.
middleware	mi	Generate a middleware declaration.
module	mo	Generate a module declaration.
pipe	pi	Generate a pipe declaration.
provider	pr	Generate a provider declaration.
resolver	r	Generate a resolver declaration.
resource	res	Generate a new CRUD resource. See the CRUD (resource) generator for more details. (TS only)
service	s	Generate a service declaration.

Options

Option	Description
--dry-run	Reports changes that would be made, but does not change the filesystem. Alias: -d
--project [project]	Project that element should be added to. Alias: -p
--flat	Do not generate a folder for the element.
--collection [collectionName]	Specify schematics collection. Use package name of installed npm package containing schematic. Alias: -c
--spec	Enforce spec files generation (default)
--no-spec	Disable spec files generation

nest build

Compiles an application or workspace into an output folder.

Also, the build command is responsible for:

• mapping paths (if using path aliases) via tsconfig-paths
• annotating DTOs with OpenAPI decorators (if @nestjs/swagger CLI plugin is enabled)
• annotating DTOs with GraphQL decorators (if @nestjs/graphql CLI plugin is enabled)

$ nest build <name> [options]

Arguments

Argument	Description
<name>	The name of the project to build.

Options

Option	Description
--path [path]	Path to tsconfig file. Alias -p
--config [path]	Path to nest-cli configuration file. Alias -c
--watch	Run in watch mode (live-reload). If you're using tsc for compilation, you can type rs to restart the application (when manualRestart option is set to true). Alias -w
--builder [name]	Specify the builder to use for compilation (tsc, swc, or webpack). Alias -b
--webpack	Use webpack for compilation (deprecated: use --builder webpack instead).
--webpackPath	Path to webpack configuration.
--tsc	Force use tsc for compilation.

nest start

Compiles and runs an application (or default project in a workspace).

$ nest start <name> [options]

Arguments

Argument	Description
<name>	The name of the project to run.

Options

Option	Description
--path [path]	Path to tsconfig file. Alias -p
--config [path]	Path to nest-cli configuration file. Alias -c
--watch	Run in watch mode (live-reload) Alias -w
--builder [name]	Specify the builder to use for compilation (tsc, swc, or webpack). Alias -b
--preserveWatchOutput	Keep outdated console output in watch mode instead of clearing the screen. (tsc watch mode only)
--watchAssets	Run in watch mode (live-reload), watching non-TS files (assets). See Assets for more details.
--debug [hostport]	Run in debug mode (with --inspect flag) Alias -d
--webpack	Use webpack for compilation. (deprecated: use --builder webpack instead)
--webpackPath	Path to webpack configuration.
--tsc	Force use tsc for compilation.
--exec [binary]	Binary to run (default: node). Alias -e
-- [key=value]	Command-line arguments that can be referenced with process.argv.

nest add

Imports a library that has been packaged as a nest library, running its install schematic.

$ nest add <name> [options]

Arguments

Argument	Description
<name>	The name of the library to import.

nest info

Displays information about installed nest packages and other helpful system info. For example:

$ nest info

 _   _             _      ___  _____  _____  _     _____
| \ | |           | |    |_  |/  ___|/  __ \| |   |_   _|
|  \| |  ___  ___ | |_     | |\ `--. | /  \/| |     | |
| . ` | / _ \/ __|| __|    | | `--. \| |    | |     | |
| |\  ||  __/\__ \| |_ /\__/ //\__/ /| \__/\| |_____| |_
\_| \_/ \___||___/ \__|\____/ \____/  \____/\_____/\___/

[System Information]
OS Version : macOS High Sierra
NodeJS Version : v16.18.0
[Nest Information]
microservices version : 10.0.0
websockets version : 10.0.0
testing version : 10.0.0
common version : 10.0.0
core version : 10.0.0