tina4 3.8.22

Tina4 — Unified CLI for Python, PHP, Ruby, and Node.js frameworks
tina4-3.8.22 is not a library.

tina4

Unified CLI for the Tina4 framework — Python, PHP, Ruby, and Node.js.

A single Rust binary that auto-detects your project language, compiles SCSS, watches files for hot-reload, and delegates to the language-specific CLI.

Install

macOS / Linux

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tina4stack/tina4/main/install.sh | sh

Or with wget:

wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tina4stack/tina4/main/install.sh | sh

The script auto-detects your OS and architecture, downloads the correct binary from the latest GitHub release, and installs it to /usr/local/bin. Override the install location with:

TINA4_INSTALL_DIR=~/.local/bin curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tina4stack/tina4/main/install.sh | sh

Windows (PowerShell)

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tina4stack/tina4/main/install.ps1 | iex

Installs to %LOCALAPPDATA%\tina4 and automatically adds it to your user PATH. Open a new terminal after installation.

Homebrew (macOS / Linux)

brew install tina4stack/tap/tina4

From source (requires Rust)

cargo install --git https://github.com/tina4stack/tina4.git

Manual download

Pre-built binaries for every platform are attached to each GitHub release:

Platform Binary
macOS ARM64 (Apple Silicon) tina4-darwin-arm64
macOS x86_64 (Intel) tina4-darwin-amd64
Linux x86_64 tina4-linux-amd64
Linux ARM64 tina4-linux-arm64
Windows x86_64 tina4-windows-amd64.exe

Quick start

# Check your environment
tina4 doctor

# Create a new project (prompts for language if multiple runtimes are installed)
tina4 init php ./my-app

# Start the dev server with SCSS compilation and hot-reload
cd my-app
tina4 serve

Commands

Command Description
tina4 doctor Check installed languages, package managers, and Tina4 CLIs
tina4 install <language> Install a language runtime (python, php, ruby, nodejs)
tina4 init [language] <path> Scaffold a new Tina4 project. Prompts for language if not specified and multiple runtimes are available
tina4 serve [--port N] [--host H] [--dev] [--production] [--no-browser] Compile SCSS, start the dev server, watch files, open the browser
tina4 scss [-w] Compile SCSS files (src/scss → src/public/css). Use -w to watch
tina4 migrate [--create <name>] Run database migrations or create a new one
tina4 test Run project tests (delegated to the framework CLI)
tina4 routes List registered routes
tina4 generate <type> <name> Generate scaffolding: model, route, migration, middleware
tina4 ai [--all] [--force] Detect AI coding tools and install framework context/skills
tina4 console Start an interactive REPL with the framework loaded (delegated)
tina4 env [--sync] [--example] [--list] Scan the project for referenced env vars, merge with .env.example, prompt for missing values
tina4 agent [--port N] Start the AI agent server for Code With Me
tina4 books Download the Tina4 book into the current directory
tina4 docs Download framework-specific documentation into .tina4-docs/
tina4 i-want-to-stop-using-v2-and-switch-to-v3 Migrate a v2 project to the v3 structure
tina4 update Self-update the tina4 binary and remove old v2 CLI binaries

How it works

  1. Language detection — scans for pyproject.toml, composer.json, Gemfile, or package.json to determine the project language
  2. SCSS compilation — uses the grass crate (pure Rust Sass compiler) so individual frameworks don't need their own SCSS compilers
  3. File watching — monitors src/, migrations/, and .env for changes. On a meaningful change it POSTs /__dev/api/reload to the framework (the server keeps running); the framework then broadcasts the reload to the browser via WebSocket (/__dev_reload) with a polling fallback (GET /__dev/api/mtime). SCSS changes are recompiled in-place and signalled as type: "css" so the browser swaps the stylesheet without a full reload. Events are filtered to real source changes — metadata/access events, __pycache__, .git, node_modules, vendor, dist, target, logs, .log/.db*/.pyc/.swp files are ignored, and a real mtime check defeats overlayfs / polling-mode spurious events (Podman, distrobox)
  4. Delegation — forwards commands like migrate, test, routes, console, and ai to tina4python, tina4php, tina4ruby, or tina4nodejs as appropriate
  5. Self-update — tina4 update checks GitHub releases and replaces the binary in-place. Also detects and removes old v2 CLI binaries that may be shadowing the new CLI

Upgrading from v2

If you have an older v2 Tina4 project, run tina4 i-want-to-stop-using-v2-and-switch-to-v3 inside the project directory. The verbose name is deliberate — this is a one-way migration and we want you to mean it. It will:

  • Move top-level directories (routes/, orm/, templates/, etc.) into src/
  • Update dependency versions in your manifest file to v3
  • Delegate any language-specific code changes to the framework CLI

If you have old v2 CLI binaries (tina4python, tina4php, etc.) installed globally, tina4 update will detect and remove them.

License

MIT