17 Micronaut CLI

17 Micronaut CLI

The Micronaut CLI is the recommended way to create new Micronaut projects. The CLI includes commands for generating specific categories of projects, allowing you to choose between build tools, test frameworks, and even pick the language you wish to use in your application. The CLI also provides commands for generating artifacts such as controllers, client interfaces, and serverless functions.

When Micronaut is installed on your computer, you can call the CLI with the mn command.

$ mn create-app my-app

A Micronaut CLI project can be identified by the micronaut-cli.yml file, which will be included at the root of the project (if it was generated via the CLI). This file will include the project’s profile, default package, and other variables. The project’s default package is evaluated based on the project name, for example:

$ mn create-app my-demo-app

Will result in the following micronaut-cli-yml.

micronaut-cli.yml

profile: service
defaultPackage: my.demo.app
---
testFramework: junit
sourceLanguage: java

You can supply your own default package when creating the application by prefixing the application name with the package:

$ mn create-app example.my-demo-app

Will result in the following micronaut-cli-yml.

micronaut-cli.yml

profile: service
defaultPackage: example
---
testFramework: junit
sourceLanguage: java

Throughout the user guide, references to CLI features/commands have been provided as applicable.

Definitions

Projects created with the CLI are based on one of several profiles, which consist of a project template (or skeleton), optional features, and profile-specific commands. Commands from a profile typically are specific to the profile application type; for example, the service profile (designed for creation of web service applications) provides the create-controller and create-client commands.

CLI commands typically accept at least one argument, such as the name of the project or controller to generate.

CLI commands can accept optional flags to control their behavior. Some flags accept multiple arguments, which are separated by commas.

Interactive Mode

If you run mn without any arguments, the Micronaut CLI will launch in interactive mode. This is a shell-like mode which allows you to run multiple CLI commands without re-initializing the CLI runtime, and is especially suitable when you are making use of code-generation commands (such as create-controller), creating multiple projects, or simply exploring the features included in the CLI. Tab-completion is enabled in the CLI, enabling you to hit the TAB key to see possible options for a given command or flag.

$ mn
| Starting interactive mode...
| Enter a command name to run. Use TAB for completion:
mn>

Help and Info

General usage information can be viewed using the help command.

mn> help create-app
    Usage: mn create-app [-hinvVx] [-b=BUILD-TOOL] [-l=LANG] [-p=PROFILE] [-f=FEATURE[,FEATURE...]]...
                         [NAME]
    Creates an application
          [NAME]               The name of the application to create.
      -b, --build=BUILD-TOOL   Which build tool to configure. Possible values: gradle, maven.
      -f, --features=FEATURE[,FEATURE...]
                               The features to use
      -h, --help               Show this help message and exit.
      -i, --inplace            Create a service using the current directory
      -l, --lang=LANG          Which language to use. Possible values: java, groovy, kotlin.
...

For details about a specific command, supply the command name after the help command.

mn> help create-app
| Command: create-app
| Description:
Creates an application
| Usage:
create-app [NAME]
...

A list of available profiles can be viewed using the list-profiles command.

mn> list-profiles
| Available Profiles
--------------------
  base          The base profile
  cli           The cli profile
  federation    The federation profile
  function      The function profile
  function-aws  The function profile for AWS Lambda
  kafka         The Kafka messaging profile
  profile       A profile for creating new Micronaut profiles
  service       The service profile

To view details on a specific profile, use the profile-info command, followed by the profile name.

mn> profile-info service
    | Profile: service
    --------------------
    The service profile
    | Provided Commands:
    --------------------
      create-bean        Creates a singleton bean
      create-client      Creates a client interface
      create-controller  Creates a controller and associated test
      create-job         Creates a job with scheduled method
      help               Prints help information for a specific command
    | Provided Features:
    --------------------
      annotation-api    Adds Java annotation API
      config-consul     Adds support for Distributed Configuration with Consul (https://www.consul.io)
      discovery-consul  Adds support for Service Discovery with Consul (https://www.consul.io)
      discovery-eureka  Adds support for Service Discovery with Eureka
      groovy            Creates a Groovy application
...