CLI Reference

The EmDash CLI provides commands for managing an EmDash CMS instance — database setup, type generation, content CRUD, schema management, media, and more.

Installation

The CLI is included with the emdash package. Install it with the following command:

npm install emdash

Run commands with npx emdash or add scripts to package.json. The binary is also available as em for brevity.

Authentication

Commands that talk to a running EmDash instance resolve authentication in this order:

1. --token flag — explicit token on the command line
2. EMDASH_TOKEN env var
3. Stored credentials from ~/.config/emdash/auth.json (saved by emdash login)
4. Dev bypass — if the URL is localhost and no token is available, automatically authenticates via the dev bypass endpoint

Most commands accept --url (default http://localhost:4321) and --token flags. When targeting a local dev server, no token is needed.

Common Flags

These flags are available on all remote commands:

Flag	Alias	Description	Default
--url	-u	EmDash instance URL	http://localhost:4321
--token	-t	Auth token	From env/stored creds
--json		Output as JSON (for piping)	Auto-detected from TTY

Output

When stdout is a TTY, the CLI pretty-prints results with consola. When piped or when --json is set, it outputs raw JSON to stdout — suitable for jq or other tools.

Commands

emdash dev

Start the development server with automatic database setup.

npx emdash dev [options]

Options

Option	Alias	Description	Default
--database	-d	Database file path	./data.db
--types	-t	Generate types from remote before starting	false
--port	-p	Dev server port	4321
--cwd		Working directory	Current directory

Examples

# Start dev server
npx emdash dev

# Custom port
npx emdash dev --port 3000

# Generate types from remote before starting
npx emdash dev --types

Behavior

1. Checks for and runs pending database migrations
2. If --types is set, generates TypeScript types from a remote instance (URL from EMDASH_URL env or emdash.url in package.json)
3. Starts Astro dev server with EMDASH_DATABASE_URL set

emdash types

Generate TypeScript types from a running EmDash instance’s schema.

npx emdash types [options]

Options

Option	Alias	Description	Default
--url	-u	EmDash instance URL	http://localhost:4321
--token	-t	Auth token	From env/stored creds
--output	-o	Output path for types	.emdash/types.ts
--cwd		Working directory	Current directory

Examples

# Generate types from local dev server
npx emdash types

# Generate from remote instance
npx emdash types --url https://my-site.pages.dev

# Custom output path
npx emdash types --output src/types/emdash.ts

Behavior

1. Fetches the schema from the instance
2. Generates TypeScript type definitions
3. Writes types to the output file
4. Writes schema.json alongside for reference

emdash login

Log in to an EmDash instance using OAuth Device Flow.

npx emdash login [options]

Options

Option	Alias	Description	Default
--url	-u	EmDash instance URL	http://localhost:4321

Behavior

1. Discovers auth endpoints from the instance
2. If localhost and no auth configured, uses dev bypass automatically
3. Otherwise initiates OAuth Device Flow — displays a code and opens your browser
4. Polls for authorization, then saves credentials to ~/.config/emdash/auth.json

Saved credentials are used automatically by all subsequent commands targeting the same instance.

emdash logout

Log out and remove stored credentials.

npx emdash logout [options]

Options

Option	Alias	Description	Default
--url	-u	EmDash instance URL	http://localhost:4321

emdash whoami

Show the current authenticated user.

npx emdash whoami [options]

Options

Option	Alias	Description	Default
--url	-u	EmDash instance URL	http://localhost:4321
--token	-t	Auth token	From env/stored creds
--json		Output as JSON

Displays email, name, role, auth method, and instance URL.

emdash content

Manage content items. All subcommands use the remote API via EmDashClient.

content list <collection>

npx emdash content list posts
npx emdash content list posts --status published --limit 10

Option	Description
--status	Filter by status
--limit	Maximum items
--cursor	Pagination cursor

content get <collection> <id>

npx emdash content get posts 01ABC123
npx emdash content get posts 01ABC123 --raw

Option	Description
--raw	Return raw Portable Text (skip markdown conversion)

The response includes a _rev token. Pass it to content update to confirm you have seen the current state before overwriting it.

content create <collection>

npx emdash content create posts --data '{"title": "Hello"}'
npx emdash content create posts --file post.json --slug hello-world
cat post.json | npx emdash content create posts --stdin

Option	Description
--data	JSON string with content data
--file	Read data from a JSON file
--stdin	Read data from stdin
--slug	Content slug
--locale	Content locale
--translation-of	ID of a content item to link this as a translation of
--draft	Keep as draft instead of auto-publishing

Provide data via exactly one of --data, --file, or --stdin. New items are auto-published unless --draft is set.

content update <collection> <id>

You must provide the _rev token from a prior get to prove you have seen the current state. This prevents overwriting changes you have not seen. The following steps read an item, then update it with that token:

# 1. Read the item, note the _rev
npx emdash content get posts 01ABC123

# 2. Update with the _rev from step 1
npx emdash content update posts 01ABC123 \
  --rev MToyMDI2LTAyLTE0... \
  --data '{"title": "Updated"}'

Option	Description
--rev	Revision token from get (required)
--data	JSON string with content data
--file	Read data from a JSON file

If the item has changed since your get, the server returns 409 Conflict — re-read and try again.

content delete <collection> <id>

npx emdash content delete posts 01ABC123

Soft-deletes the content item (moves to trash).

content publish <collection> <id>

npx emdash content publish posts 01ABC123

content unpublish <collection> <id>

npx emdash content unpublish posts 01ABC123

content schedule <collection> <id>

npx emdash content schedule posts 01ABC123 --at 2026-03-01T09:00:00Z

Option	Description
--at	ISO 8601 datetime (required)

content restore <collection> <id>

npx emdash content restore posts 01ABC123

Restores a trashed content item.

emdash schema

Manage collections and fields.

schema list

npx emdash schema list

Lists all collections.

schema get <collection>

npx emdash schema get posts

Shows a collection with all its fields.

schema create <collection>

npx emdash schema create articles --label Articles
npx emdash schema create articles --label Articles --label-singular Article --description "Blog articles"

Option	Description
--label	Collection label (required)
--label-singular	Singular label
--description	Collection description

schema delete <collection>

npx emdash schema delete articles
npx emdash schema delete articles --force

Option	Description
--force	Skip confirmation

Prompts for confirmation unless --force is set.

schema add-field <collection> <field>

npx emdash schema add-field posts body --type portableText --label "Body Content"
npx emdash schema add-field posts featured --type boolean --required

Option	Description
--type	Field type: string, text, number, integer, boolean, datetime, image, reference, portableText, json (required)
--label	Field label (defaults to field slug)
--required	Whether the field is required

schema remove-field <collection> <field>

npx emdash schema remove-field posts featured

emdash media

Manage media items.

media list

npx emdash media list
npx emdash media list --mime image/png --limit 20

Option	Description
--mime	Filter by MIME type
--limit	Number of items
--cursor	Pagination cursor

media upload <file>

npx emdash media upload ./photo.jpg
npx emdash media upload ./photo.jpg --alt "A sunset" --caption "Taken in Bristol"

Option	Description
--alt	Alt text
--caption	Caption text

media get <id>

npx emdash media get 01MEDIA123

media delete <id>

npx emdash media delete 01MEDIA123

emdash search

Full-text search across content.

npx emdash search "hello world"
npx emdash search "hello" --collection posts --limit 5

Option	Alias	Description
--collection	-c	Filter by collection
--limit	-l	Maximum results

emdash taxonomy

Manage taxonomies and terms.

taxonomy list

npx emdash taxonomy list

taxonomy terms <name>

npx emdash taxonomy terms categories
npx emdash taxonomy terms tags --limit 50

Option	Alias	Description
--limit	-l	Maximum terms
--cursor		Pagination cursor

taxonomy add-term <taxonomy>

npx emdash taxonomy add-term categories --name "Tech" --slug tech
npx emdash taxonomy add-term categories --name "Frontend" --parent 01PARENT123

Option	Description
--name	Term label (required)
--slug	Term slug (defaults to slugified name)
--parent	Parent term ID (for hierarchical taxonomies)

emdash menu

Manage navigation menus.

menu list

npx emdash menu list

menu get <name>

npx emdash menu get primary

Returns the menu with all its items.

emdash export-seed

Export database schema and content as a seed file. Works directly on a local SQLite file.

npx emdash export-seed [options] > seed.json

Options

Option	Alias	Description	Default
--database	-d	Database file path	./data.db
--cwd		Working directory	Current directory
--with-content		Include content (all or comma-separated collections)
--no-pretty		Disable JSON formatting	false

Output Format

The exported seed file includes:

• Settings: Site title, tagline, social links
• Collections: All collection definitions with fields
• Taxonomies: Taxonomy definitions and terms
• Menus: Navigation menus with items
• Widget Areas: Widget areas and widgets
• Content (if requested): Entries with $media references and $ref: syntax for portability

emdash secrets generate

Generate an EMDASH_ENCRYPTION_KEY for your deployment. The key is used to encrypt plugin secrets at rest.

npx emdash secrets generate

Prints the new key to stdout. Pipe it into your secret store, or write it straight to a dev file with --write. The following commands write the key to .dev.vars or .env:

npx emdash secrets generate --write .dev.vars
npx emdash secrets generate --write .env

--write refuses to overwrite an existing entry without --force. Replacing a key in a deployment with existing encrypted data will leave those secrets unreadable, so the protection is intentional.

emdash secrets fingerprint <key>

Print the 8-character fingerprint (kid) of a key without exposing its value. This is useful in CI for verifying the right key was deployed. The following command prints a key’s fingerprint:

npx emdash secrets fingerprint emdash_enc_v1_...

Generated Files

.emdash/types.ts

The emdash types command generates TypeScript interfaces for each collection:

.emdash/types.ts

// Generated by EmDash CLI
// Do not edit manually - run `emdash types` to regenerate

import type { PortableTextBlock } from "emdash";

export interface Post {
  id: string;
  title: string;
  content: PortableTextBlock[];
  publishedAt: Date | null;
}

.emdash/schema.json

The command also writes a raw schema export for tooling:

.emdash/schema.json

{
  "version": "a1b2c3d4",
  "collections": [
    {
      "slug": "posts",
      "label": "Posts",
      "fields": [...]
    }
  ]
}

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
EMDASH_DATABASE_URL	Database URL (set automatically by dev)
EMDASH_TOKEN	Auth token for remote operations
EMDASH_URL	Default remote URL for types and dev --types
EMDASH_ENCRYPTION_KEY	Key for encrypting plugin secrets at rest. Operator-provided — never stored in the database. Generate with emdash secrets generate.
EMDASH_PREVIEW_SECRET	Optional override for preview HMAC secret. When unset, EmDash generates and persists one in the options table.
EMDASH_IP_SALT	Optional override for the commenter-IP hash salt. When unset, EmDash generates and persists one in the options table.
EMDASH_AUTH_SECRET	Legacy. Used as the IP-salt source if set, so existing installs keep stable commenter-IP hashes across upgrade. New installs should not set this.

Package scripts

Add the CLI commands as package.json scripts for convenience:

package.json

{
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "emdash dev",
    "types": "emdash types",
    "export-seed": "emdash export-seed",
    "db:reset": "rm -f data.db"
  }
}

Exit Codes

Code	Description
0	Success
1	Error (configuration, network, database)