CLI Reference

Running

Run

Runs your application.

$ encore run [--debug] [--watch=true] [--port=4000] [--listen=<addr>] [flags]

Flags

Flag	Description	Default
`-w, --watch`	Watch for changes and live-reload	`true`
`--listen`	Address to listen on (e.g. `0.0.0.0:4000`)
`-p, --port`	Port to listen on	`4000`
`--json`	Display logs in JSON format	`false`
`-n, --namespace`	Namespace to use (defaults to active namespace)
`--color`	Whether to display colorized output	auto-detected
`--redact`	Redact sensitive data in traces when running locally	`false`
`-l, --level`	Minimum log level to display (`trace\\|debug\\|info\\|warn\\|error`)
`--debug`	Compile for debugging (`enabled\\|break`)
`--browser`	Open local dev dashboard in browser on startup (`auto\\|never\\|always`)	`auto`

Test

Tests your application.

Runs the test script defined in your package.json.

$ encore test [flags]

Additional flags recognized by encore test:

Flag	Description
`--codegen-debug`	Dump generated code (for debugging Encore's code generation)
`--prepare`	Prepare for running tests without running them
`--trace`	Write trace information about the parse and compilation process to a file
`--no-color`	Disable colorized output

Check

Checks your application for compile-time errors using Encore's compiler.

$ encore check [flags]

Flags

Flag	Description
`--codegen-debug`	Dump generated code (for debugging Encore's code generation)
`--tests`	Parse tests as well

Exec

Runs executable scripts against the local Encore app.

Takes a command that it will execute with the local Encore app environment setup.

$ encore exec -- <command>

Flags

Flag	Description
`-n, --namespace`	Namespace to use (defaults to active namespace)

Example

Run a database seed script

$ encore exec -- npx tsx ./seed.ts

App

Commands to create and link Encore apps

Clone

Clone an Encore app to your computer

$ encore app clone [app-id] [directory]

Create

Create a new Encore app

$ encore app create [name] [flags]

Flags

Flag	Description	Default
`--example`	URL to example code to use
`-l, --lang`	Programming language to use for the app
`-r, --llm-rules`	Initialize the app with LLM rules for a specific tool
`--platform`	Whether to create the app with the Encore Platform	`true`

Init

Create a new Encore app from an existing repository

$ encore app init [name] [flags]

Flags

Flag	Description
`-l, --lang`	Programming language to use for the app

Link

Link an Encore app with the server

$ encore app link [app-id] [flags]

Flags

Flag	Description
`-f, --force`	Force link even if the app is already linked

Auth

Commands to authenticate with Encore

$ encore auth login [flags]

Flags

Flag	Description
`-k, --auth-key`	Auth Key to use for login

Logout

Logs out the currently logged in user

$ encore auth logout

Create a new Encore account

$ encore auth signup

Whoami

Show the current logged in user

$ encore auth whoami

Daemon

Encore CLI daemon commands

Restart

If you experience unexpected behavior, try restarting the daemon using:

$ encore daemon

Env

Outputs Encore environment information

$ encore daemon env

Database Management

Database management commands

Connect to database via shell

Connects to the database via psql shell

Defaults to connecting to your local environment. Specify --env to connect to another environment.

Use --test to connect to databases used for integration testing. Use --shadow to connect to the shadow database, used for database drift detection when using tools like Prisma.

--test and --shadow imply --env=local.

$ encore db shell [DATABASE_NAME] [--env=<name>] [flags]

encore db shell defaults to read-only permissions. Use --write, --admin and --superuser flags to modify which permissions you connect with.

Flags

Flag	Description	Default
`-n, --namespace`	Namespace to use (defaults to active namespace)
`-e, --env`	Environment name to connect to	`local`
`-t, --test`	Connect to the integration test database (implies --env=local)	`false`
`--shadow`	Connect to the shadow database (implies --env=local)	`false`
`--write`	Connect with write privileges	`false`
`--admin`	Connect with admin privileges	`false`
`--superuser`	Connect as a superuser	`false`

Connection URI

Outputs a database connection string. Defaults to connecting to your local environment. Specify --env to connect to another environment.

$ encore db conn-uri [<db-name>] [--env=<name>] [flags]

Flags

Flag	Description	Default
`-n, --namespace`	Namespace to use (defaults to active namespace)
`-e, --env`	Environment name to connect to	`local`
`-t, --test`	Connect to the integration test database (implies --env=local)	`false`
`--shadow`	Connect to the shadow database (implies --env=local)	`false`
`--write`	Connect with write privileges	`false`
`--admin`	Connect with admin privileges	`false`
`--superuser`	Connect as a superuser	`false`

Proxy

Sets up local proxy that forwards any incoming connection to the databases in the specified environment.

$ encore db proxy [--env=<name>] [flags]

Flags

Flag	Description	Default
`-n, --namespace`	Namespace to use (defaults to active namespace)
`-e, --env`	Environment name to connect to	`local`
`-p, --port`	Port to listen on (defaults to a random port)	`0`
`-t, --test`	Connect to the integration test database (implies --env=local)	`false`
`--shadow`	Connect to the shadow database (implies --env=local)	`false`
`--write`	Connect with write privileges	`false`
`--admin`	Connect with admin privileges	`false`
`--superuser`	Connect as a superuser	`false`

Reset

Resets the databases for the given services. Use --all to reset all databases.

$ encore db reset <database-names...|--all> [flags]

Flags

Flag	Description	Default
`-n, --namespace`	Namespace to use (defaults to active namespace)
`--all`	Reset all services in the application	`false`
`-t, --test`	Reset databases in the test cluster instead	`false`
`--shadow`	Reset databases in the shadow cluster instead	`false`

Code Generation

Code generation commands

Generate client

Generates an API client for your app. For more information about the generated clients, see this page.

By default, encore gen client generates the client based on the version of your application currently running in your local environment. You can change this using the --env flag and specifying the environment name.

Use --lang=<lang> to specify the language. Supported language codes are:

go: A Go client using the net/http package
typescript: A TypeScript client using the in-browser Fetch API
javascript: A JavaScript client using the in-browser Fetch API
openapi: An OpenAPI spec

$ encore gen client [<app-id>] [--env=<name>] [--lang=<lang>] [flags]

Flags

Flag	Description	Default
`-l, --lang`	Language to generate code for
`-o, --output`	Filename to write the generated client code to
`-e, --env`	Environment to fetch the API for	`local`
`-s, --services`	Names of the services to include in the output
`-x, --excluded-services`	Names of the services to exclude in the output
`-t, --tags`	Names of endpoint tags to include in the output
`--excluded-tags`	Names of endpoint tags to exclude in the output
`--openapi-exclude-private-endpoints`	Exclude private endpoints from the OpenAPI spec	`false`
`--ts:shared-types`	Import types from ~backend instead of re-generating them	`false`
`--target`	An optional target for the client (`leap`)

Logs

Streams logs from your application

$ encore logs [--env=prod] [--json] [flags]

Flags

Flag	Description
`-e, --env`	Environment name to stream logs from (defaults to the primary environment)
`--json`	Whether to print logs in raw JSON format
`-q, --quiet`	Whether to print initial message when the command is waiting for logs

Kubernetes

Kubernetes management commands

Configure

Updates your kubectl config to point to the Kubernetes cluster(s) for the specified environment

$ encore k8s configure --env=ENV_NAME

Secrets Management

Secret management commands

Set

Set a secret value for a specific environment:

$ encore secret set --env <env-name> <secret-name>

Set a secret value for an environment type:

$ encore secret set --type <types> <secret-name>

Where <types> defines which environment types the secret value applies to. Use a comma-separated list of production, development, preview, and local. Shorthands: prod, dev, pr.

Examples

Entering a secret directly in terminal:

$ encore secret set --type dev MySecret
Enter secret value: ...
Successfully created secret value for MySecret.

Piping a secret from a file:

$ encore secret set --type dev,local MySecret < my-secret.txt
Successfully created secret value for MySecret.

Note that this strips trailing newlines from the secret value.

List

Lists secrets, optionally for a specific key

$ encore secret list [keys...]

Unarchive

Unarchives a secret value

$ encore secret unarchive <id>

Namespaces

Manage infrastructure namespaces for isolating local infrastructure. See Infrastructure Namespaces for more details.

List

List infrastructure namespaces

$ encore namespace list [--output=columns|json]

Create

Create a new infrastructure namespace

$ encore namespace create NAME

Delete

Delete an infrastructure namespace

$ encore namespace delete NAME

Switch

Switch to a different infrastructure namespace. Subsequent commands will use the given namespace by default.

Use - as the namespace name to switch back to the previously active namespace.

$ encore namespace switch [--create] NAME

Flags

Flag	Description
`-c, --create`	Create the namespace before switching

Config

Gets or sets configuration values for customizing the behavior of the Encore CLI.

Configuration options can be set both for individual Encore applications, as well as globally for the local user.

$ encore config <key> [<value>] [flags]

When running encore config within an Encore application, it automatically sets and gets configuration for that application. To set or get global configuration, use the --global flag.

Flags

Flag	Description
`--all`	View all settings
`--app`	Set the value for the current app
`--global`	Set the value at the global level

Telemetry

Reports the current telemetry status

$ encore telemetry

Enable

Enables telemetry reporting

$ encore telemetry enable

Disable

Disables telemetry reporting

$ encore telemetry disable

MCP

MCP (Model Context Protocol) commands for integrating with AI assistants. See MCP for more details.

Start

Starts an SSE-based MCP session and prints the SSE URL

$ encore mcp start [--app=<app-id>]

Run

Runs a stdio-based MCP session

$ encore mcp run [--app=<app-id>]

Random

Utilities for generating cryptographically secure random data.

UUID

Generates a random UUID (defaults to version 4)

$ encore rand uuid [-1|-4|-6|-7]

Flags

Flag	Description
`-1, --v1`	Generate a version 1 UUID
`-4, --v4`	Generate a version 4 UUID (default)
`-6, --v6`	Generate a version 6 UUID
`-7, --v7`	Generate a version 7 UUID

Bytes

Generates random bytes and outputs them in the specified format

$ encore rand bytes BYTES [-f <format>]

Flags

Flag	Description	Default
`-f, --format`	Output format (`hex\\|base32\\|base32hex\\|base32crockford\\|base64\\|base64url\\|raw`)	`hex`
`--no-padding`	Omit padding characters from base32/base64 output	`false`

Words

Generates random 4-5 letter words for memorable passphrases

$ encore rand words [--sep=SEPARATOR] NUM

Flags

Flag	Description	Default
`-s, --sep`	Separator between words	(space)

Deploy

Deploy an Encore app to a cloud environment.

Requires either --commit or --branch to be specified.

$ encore deploy --env=<env-name> (--commit=<sha> | --branch=<name>) [flags]

Flags

Flag	Description	Default
`--app`	App slug to deploy to (defaults to current app)
`-e, --env`	Environment to deploy to (required)
`--commit`	Commit SHA to deploy
`--branch`	Branch to deploy
`-f, --format`	Output format (`text\\|json`)	`text`

Version

Reports the current version of the encore application

$ encore version

Update

Checks for an update of encore and, if one is available, runs the appropriate command to update it.

$ encore version update

Build

Generates an image for your app, which can be used to self-host your app.

Docker

Builds a portable Docker image of your Encore application.

$ encore build docker IMAGE_TAG [flags]

Flags

Flag	Description	Default
`--base`	Base image to build from	`scratch`
`-p, --push`	Push image to remote repository	`false`
`--cgo`	Enable cgo	`false`
`--config`	Infra configuration file path
`--skip-config`	Do not read or generate an infra configuration file	`false`
`--services`	Services to include in the image
`--gateways`	Gateways to include in the image
`--os`	Target operating system	`linux`
`--arch`	Target architecture (`amd64\\|arm64`)	`amd64`

LLM Rules

Generate LLM rules in an existing app

Init

Initialize the LLM rules files

$ encore llm-rules init [flags]

Flags

Flag	Description
`-r, --llm-rules`	Initialize the app with LLM rules for a specific tool (`cursor\\|claudecode\\|vscode\\|agentsmd\\|zed`)