---
title: "CLI reference"
description: "The forgedb command-line tool — global flags and every subcommand for generating, building, and operating a ForgeDB database."
purpose: "reference"
---
The `forgedb` CLI is the whole toolchain: it scaffolds a project, transpiles your
`.forge` schema into tailored Rust/TypeScript/REST artifacts, builds them, and operates
the database (migrations, compaction, backups, tenancy, and the multi-process commit
coordinator).
```bash
forgedb <command> [flags]
forgedb --help
```
## Global flags
Accepted on every command.
| Flag | Type / default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| `-v`, `--verbose` | bool (false) | Enable verbose output. |
| `-q`, `--quiet` | bool (false) | Suppress output. |
| `-c`, `--config <PATH>` | string (auto-discover `forgedb.toml`) | Path to the config file. Commands that need config-derived defaults (schema path, output dir, `[runtime]`/`[storage]`/`[tenant]`/`[auth]` tables) read it from here. |
<Callout type="note" title="Config precedence">
For resolvable defaults the order is: CLI flag > `forgedb.toml` > built-in default.
See [configuration](/docs/config/overview/) for the full set of tables and keys.
</Callout>
## Commands
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
| [`init`](/docs/cli/init/) | Scaffold a new ForgeDB project. |
| [`generate`](/docs/cli/generate/) | Transpile the schema into code (Rust, REST API, OpenAPI, stubs, language runtimes). |
| [`validate`](/docs/cli/validate/) | Parse and validate the schema (and optionally components). |
| [`build`](/docs/cli/build/) | Validate, generate, and compile production artifacts. |
| [`dev`](/docs/cli/dev/) | Watch the schema and auto-regenerate on change. |
| `lsp` | Run the ForgeDB language server over stdio (used by the [editor extension](/docs/reference/editor-support/)). |
| [`migrate`](/docs/cli/migrate/) | Record, build, and run schema migrations over data-at-rest. |
| [`compact`](/docs/cli/compact/) | Database statistics and analysis. Offline `run`/`vacuum` are deprecated. |
| [`backup`](/docs/cli/backup/) | Create, restore, and inspect snapshot archives. |
| [`tenant`](/docs/cli/tenant/) | Manage dir-per-tenant data directories. |
| [`coordinate`](/docs/cli/coordinate/) | Run the Tier-3 MVCC multi-process commit coordinator. |
## Exit codes
Commands exit `0` on success, non-zero on failure. The deprecated paths
(`compact run`, `compact vacuum`) exit non-zero even though they are otherwise valid
subcommands — see [compact](/docs/cli/compact/).