# CLI

## Installation

Electron forge's CLI is separate from the core module, to install it you will have to use the `@electron-forge/cli` module from NPM.

```bash
# NPM
npm i -g @electron-forge/cli

# Yarn
yarn global add @electron-forge/cli
```

## Overview

At a high level the CLI module is just a proxy to the raw [API](https://js.electronforge.io) commands.  Almost all the configuration is still done in your Forge Config, the CLI just provides a handy way to trigger all the core functionality of Electron Forge \(and you should definitely use it\).

## Commands

Please note these commands are sorted in alphabetical order, the ones you probably need to care about are [start](cli.md#start), [package](cli.md#package), [make](cli.md#make), and [publish](cli.md#publish). 

### Import

Maps to `electronForge.import`, will attempt to take an existing Electron app and make it Forge compatible. Normally this just creates a base Electron Forge config and adds the required dependencies.

> There are no flags for the Import command

### Init

Maps to `electronForge.init`, will initialize a new Forge powered application in the given directory \(defaults to `.`\).

Please note if you want to use a template, it must be installed globally before running the `init` command.

| Flag | Value | Required | Description |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| `--template` | Template Name | No | Name of the template to use to make this new app |
| `--copy-ci-files` | N/A | No | Set if you want to copy templated CI files for Travis CI and Appveyor |

### Install

Maps to `electronForge.install`, will attempt to install the Electron app that is published at the given GitHub repository. This command is just a helper for installing other applications quickly.  E.g.

```bash
electron-forge install atom/atom
```

### Lint

Maps to `electronForge.lint`, will run the `lint` command that your `package.json` exposes. If the exit code is 0 no output is shown, otherwise the error output will be displayed.

> There are no flags for the Lint command

### Make

Maps to `electronForge.make`, will make distributables for your application based on your Forge config and the parameters you pass in.

| Flag | Value | Required | Description |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| `--arch` | Architecture, e.g. `x64` | No | Target architecture to make for |
| `--platform` | Platform, e.g. `mas` | No | Target platform to make for, please note you normally can only target platform X from platform X. This defaults to the platform you're running on \(the "host" platform\). |
| `--targets` | Comma separated list of maker names | No | Override your make targets for this run. The maker name is the full node module name, e.g. `@electron-forge/maker-deb`. |
| `--skip-package` | N/A | No | Set if you want to skip the packaging step, useful if you are running sequential makes and want to save time |

### Package

Maps to `electronForge.package`, will package your application into a platform specific format and put the result in a folder. Please note that this does not make a distributable format. To make proper distributables, please use the [make](cli.md#make) command.

| Flag | Value | Required | Description |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| `--arch` | Architecture, e.g. `x64` | No | Target architecture to package for. Defaults to the host arch. |
| `--platform` | Platform, e.g. `mas` | No | Target platform to package for. Defaults to the host platform. |

### Publish

Maps to `electronForge.publish`, will attempt to make the forge application and then publish it to the publish targets defined in your forge config.

If you want to publish previously created `make` artifacts you will have to use the `dry-run` options explained below.

| Flag | Value | Required | Description |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| `--target` | Comma separated list of publisher names | No | Override your publish targets for this run |
| `--dry-run` | N/A | No | Triggers a publish dry run which saves state and doesn't upload anything |
| `--from-dry-run` | N/A | No | Attempts to publish artifacts from any dry runs saved on disk |

### Start

Maps to `electronForge.start`, will launch the Forge powered application in the given directory \(defaults to `.`\).

If you type `rs` \(and hit enter\) in the same terminal where you ran the start command, the running app will be terminated and restarted.

| Flag | Value | Required | Description |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| `--app-path` | Path to your app from CWD | No | Override the path to the Electron app to launch \(defaults to `.`\) |
| `--enable-logging` | N/A | No | Enable advanced logging. This will log internal Electron things |
| `--run-as-node` | N/A | No | Run the Electron app as a Node.JS script |
| `--inspect-electron` | N/A | No | Triggers inspect mode on Electron to allow debugging the main process |
| `--` | extra arguments | No | Any additional arguments to pass to Electron or the app itself. For example: `-- --my-app-argument` |