Reference

CLI Reference

The complete command surface — project management, add/remove operations, quick-mode flags, generated scripts, and what happens when you mistype.

Project management

Command	Description
cem dev	Start the dev server with live reload and a pretty terminal UI
cem build	Middleware guard + architecture guard + compile TypeScript to dist/
cem start	Start the production server with preflight checks and safety guards
cem check	Type check, lint and format check in one go
cem list · cem ls	List modules, middlewares, env vars and Swagger status

Add commands

Command	Description
cem add module <Name...>	Scaffold one or more complete feature modules
cem add env <KEY...>	Add env vars to .env, .env.example and config/index.ts
cem add middleware <name...>	Create one or more middlewares in src/app/middlewares/

Remove commands

Command	Description
cem remove module <Name...>	Delete module folder(s) and unwire from routes/index.ts
cem remove middleware <name...>	Delete custom middleware file(s)
cem remove env <KEY...>	Remove env var(s) from all three config locations

cem rm is an alias for cem remove and works with every subcommand.

Quick mode (-y / --yes)

Skip every prompt and scaffold with the recommended stack:

bash

cem my-api -y
# or
npx create-express-modular my-api --yes

Defaults applied: Mongoose · Zod · JWT auth · HTTP-only cookies · Docker · Swagger.

Overriding flags

bash

# Prisma + PostgreSQL instead of Mongoose
cem my-api -y --db prisma

# Skip Docker
cem my-api -y --no-docker

# Drizzle, Joi and header-based auth
cem my-api -y --db drizzle --validator joi --header

Generated project scripts

npm	yarn / pnpm / bun	Equivalent to
npm run start:dev	yarn start:dev · pnpm start:dev · bun start:dev	cem dev
npm run build	yarn build · pnpm build · bun run build	cem build
npm run check	yarn check · pnpm check · bun run check	cem check
npm start	yarn start · pnpm start · bun start	cem start
npm run lint	yarn lint · pnpm lint · bun run lint	eslint src
npm run lint:fix	yarn lint:fix · pnpm lint:fix · bun run lint:fix	eslint src --fix
npm run prettier:fix	yarn prettier:fix · pnpm prettier:fix · bun run prettier:fix	prettier --write src

Unknown commands

Pass an unknown flag and the CLI prints the full command list instead of a stack trace:

✖  Unknown flag: "--fix"

⚠  Available commands:
   cem [project-name]              — scaffold a new project
   cem dev                         — start dev server with hot reload
   cem build                       — compile TypeScript to dist/
   cem start                       — start the production server
   cem check                       — run type-check, lint, and format check
   cem list                        — list modules, middlewares, and env vars
   cem add module <name...>        — generate one or more feature modules
   cem add middleware <name...>    — generate one or more custom middlewares
   cem add env <KEY...>            — add one or more env variables
   cem remove module <name...>     — delete module(s) and unwire routes
   cem remove middleware <name...> — delete middleware file(s)
   cem remove env <KEY...>         — remove env var(s) from all config files
   cem --version                   — print the installed version
   cem --help                      — show this help message