CLI Commands

You can use the Command-Line Interface (CLI) provided by Astro to develop, build, and preview your project from a terminal window.

astro commands

Use the CLI by running one of the commands documented on this page with your preferred package manager, optionally followed by any flags. Flags customize the behavior of a command.

One of the commands you’ll use most often is astro dev. This command starts the development server and gives you a live, updating preview of your site in a browser as you work:

npm

# start the development server
npx astro dev

pnpm

# start the development server
pnpm astro dev

Yarn

# start the development server
yarn astro dev

You can type astro --help in your terminal to display a list of all available commands:

npm

npx astro --help

pnpm

pnpm astro --help

Yarn

yarn astro --help

The following message will display in your terminal:

astro [command] [...flags]

Commands
              add  Add an integration.
            build  Build your project and write it to disk.
            check  Check your project for errors.
              dev  Start the development server.
             docs  Open documentation in your web browser.
             info  List info about your current Astro setup.
          preview  Preview your build locally.
             sync  Generate content collection types.
      preferences  Configure user preferences.
        telemetry  Configure telemetry settings.

Global Flags
  --config <path>  Specify your config file.
    --root <path>  Specify your project root folder.
     --site <url>  Specify your project site.
--base <pathname>  Specify your project base.
        --verbose  Enable verbose logging.
         --silent  Disable all logging.
        --version  Show the version number and exit.
           --open  Open the app in the browser on server start.
           --help  Show this help message.

Note

The extra -- before any flag is necessary for npm to pass your flags to the astro command.

package.json scripts

You can also use scripts in package.json for shorter versions of these commands. Using a script allows you to use the same commands that you may be familiar with from other projects, such as npm run build.

The following scripts for the most common astro commands (astro dev, astro build, and astro preview) are added for you automatically when you create a project using the create astro wizard.

When you follow the instructions to install Astro manually, you are instructed to add these scripts yourself. You can also add more scripts to this list manually for any commands you use frequently.

package.json

{
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "astro dev",
    "start": "astro dev",
    "build": "astro build",
    "preview": "astro preview"
  }
}

You will often use these astro commands, or the scripts that run them, without any flags. Add flags to the command when you want to customize the command’s behavior. For example, you may wish to start the development server on a different port, or build your site with verbose logs for debugging.

npm

# run the dev server on port 8080 using the `start` script in `package.json`
npm run start -- --port 8080

# build your site with verbose logs using the `build` script in `package.json`
npm run build -- --verbose

pnpm

# run the dev server on port 8080 using the `start` script in `package.json`
pnpm start --port 8080

# build your site with verbose logs using the `build` script in `package.json`
pnpm build --verbose

Yarn

# run the dev server on port 8080 using the `start` script in `package.json`
yarn start --port 8080

# build your site with verbose logs using the `build` script in `package.json`
yarn build --verbose

astro dev

Runs Astro’s development server. This is a local HTTP server that doesn’t bundle assets. It uses Hot Module Replacement (HMR) to update your browser as you save changes in your editor.

Flags

Use these flags to customize the behavior of the Astro dev server. For flags shared with other Astro commands, see common flags below.

--port <number>

Specifies which port to run on. Defaults to 4321.

--host [optional host address]

Sets which network IP addresses the dev server should listen on (i.e. non-localhost IPs). This can be useful for testing your project on local devices like a mobile phone during development.

• --host — listen on all addresses, including LAN and public addresses
• --host <custom-address> — expose on a network IP address at <custom-address>

Caution

Do not use the --host flag to expose the dev server in a production environment. The dev server is designed for local use while developing your site only.

astro build

Builds your site for deployment. By default, this will generate static files and place them in a dist/ directory. If SSR is enabled, this will generate the necessary server files to serve your site.

Can be combined with the common flags documented below.

astro preview

Starts a local server to serve your static dist/ directory.

This command is useful for previewing your build locally, before deploying it. It is not designed to be run in production. For help with production hosting, check out our guide on Deploying an Astro Website.

Since Astro 1.5.0, astro preview also works for SSR builds if you use an adapter that supports it. Currently, only the Node adapter supports astro preview.

Can be combined with the common flags documented below.

astro check

Runs diagnostics (such as type-checking within .astro files) against your project and reports errors to the console. If any errors are found the process will exit with a code of 1.

This command is intended to be used in CI workflows.

Flags

Use these flags to customize the behavior of the command.

--watch

The command will watch for any changes in your project, and will report any errors.

📚 Read more about type checking in Astro.

astro sync

Added in: astro@2.0.0

Tip

Running astro dev, astro build or astro check will run the sync command as well.

Generates TypeScript types for all Astro modules. This sets up a src/env.d.ts file for type inferencing, and defines the astro:content module for the Content Collections API.

astro add

Adds an integration to your configuration. Read more in the integrations guide.

astro docs

Launches the Astro Docs website directly from the terminal.

astro info

Reports useful information about your current Astro environment. Useful for providing information when opening an issue.

astro info

Example output:

Astro                    v3.0.12
Node                     v20.5.1
System                   macOS (arm64)
Package Manager          pnpm
Output                   server
Adapter                  @astrojs/vercel/serverless
Integrations             none

astro preferences

Manage user preferences with the astro preferences command. User preferences are specific to individual Astro users, unlike the astro.config.mjs file which changes behavior for everyone working on a project.

User preferences are scoped to the current project by default, stored in a local .astro/settings.json file.

Using the --global flag, user preferences can also be applied to every Astro project on the current machine. Global user preferences are stored in an operating system-specific location.

For example, to disable the devToolbar in a specific Astro project:

astro preferences disable devToolbar

To disable the devToolbar in all Astro projects on the current machine:

astro preferences disable --global devToolbar

The devToolbar can later be enabled with:

astro preferences enable devToolbar

The reset command resets a preference to its default value:

astro preferences reset devOverlay

The list command prints the current settings of all configurable user preferences. It also supports a machine-readable --json output.

astro preferences list

astro telemetry

Sets telemetry configuration for the current CLI user. Telemetry is anonymous data that provides the Astro team insights into which Astro features are most often used. For more information see Astro’s telemetry page.

Telemetry can be disabled with this CLI command:

astro telemetry disable

Telemetry can later be re-enabled with:

astro telemetry enable

The clear command resets the telemetry data:

astro telemetry clear

Want to disable telemetry in CI environments?

Add the astro telemetry disable command to your CI scripts or set the ASTRO_TELEMETRY_DISABLED environment variable.

Common flags

--root <path>

Specifies the path to the project root. If not specified, the current working directory is assumed to be the root.

The root is used for finding the Astro configuration file.

astro --root myRootFolder/myProjectFolder dev

--config <path>

Specifies the path to the config file relative to the project root. Defaults to astro.config.mjs. Use this if you use a different name for your configuration file or have your config file in another folder.

astro --config config/astro.config.mjs dev

--outDir <path>

Added in: astro@3.3.0

Configures the outDir for your project. Passing this flag will override the outDir value in your astro.config.mjs file, if one exists.

--site <url>

Configures the site for your project. Passing this flag will override the site value in your astro.config.mjs file, if one exists.

--base <pathname>

Added in: astro@1.4.1

Configures the base for your project. Passing this flag will override the base value in your astro.config.mjs file, if one exists.

--verbose

Enables verbose logging, which is helpful when debugging an issue.

--silent

Enables silent logging, which will run the server without any console output.

Global flags

Use these flags to get information about the astro CLI.

--version

Prints the Astro version number and exits.

--open

Automatically opens the app in the browser on server start.

--help

Prints the help message and exits.

Advanced APIs (Experimental)

If you need more control when running Astro, the "astro" package also exports APIs to programmatically run the CLI commands.

These APIs are experimental and their API signature may change. Any updates will be mentioned in the Astro changelog and the information below will always show the current, up-to-date information.

AstroInlineConfig

The AstroInlineConfig type is used by all of the command APIs below. It extends from the user Astro config type:

interface AstroInlineConfig extends AstroUserConfig {
  configFile?: string | false;
  mode?: "development" | "production";
  logLevel?: "debug" | "info" | "warn" | "error" | "silent";
}

configFile

Type: string | false
Default: undefined

A custom path to the Astro config file.

If this value is undefined (default) or unset, Astro will search for an astro.config.(js,mjs,ts) file relative to the root and load the config file if found.

If a relative path is set, it will resolve based on the current working directory.

Set to false to disable loading any config files.

The inline config passed in this object will take highest priority when merging with the loaded user config.

mode

Type: "development" | "production"
Default: "development" when running astro dev, "production" when running astro build

The mode used when building your site to generate either “development” or “production” code.

logLevel

Type: "debug" | "info" | "warn" | "error" | "silent"
Default: "info"

The logging level to filter messages logged by Astro.

• "debug": Log everything, including noisy debugging diagnostics.
• "info": Log informational messages, warnings, and errors.
• "warn": Log warnings and errors.
• "error": Log errors only.
• "silent": No logging.

dev()

Type: (inlineConfig: AstroInlineConfig) => AstroDevServer

Similar to astro dev, it runs Astro’s development server.

import { dev } from "astro";

const devServer = await dev({
  root: "./my-project",
});

// Stop the server if needed
await devServer.stop();

build()

Type: (inlineConfig: AstroInlineConfig) => void

Similar to astro build, it builds your site for deployment.

import { build } from "astro";

await build({
  root: "./my-project",
});

preview()

Type: (inlineConfig: AstroInlineConfig) => AstroPreviewServer

Similar to astro preview, it starts a local server to serve your static dist/ directory.

import { preview } from "astro";

const previewServer = await preview({
  root: "./my-project",
});

// Stop the server if needed
await previewServer.stop();

sync()

Type: (inlineConfig: AstroInlineConfig) => number

Similar to astro sync, it generates TypeScript types for all Astro modules

import { sync } from "astro";

const exitCode = await sync({
  root: "./my-project",
});

process.exit(exitCode)