CLI

The IKARY CLI scaffolds, validates, compiles, and previews Cell manifests from the terminal.

Install

Run commands directly with npx:

npx @ikary/cli init

Or install globally:

npm install -g @ikary/cli
ikary --help

You can also use the @ikary/ikary wrapper package, which forwards to @ikary/cli:

npx @ikary/ikary init

Commands

ikary init

Scaffolds a new Cell manifest project with an interactive wizard.

ikary init my-app

The wizard prompts for a project description and preferred AI tool. It generates:

• manifest.json with a starter Cell manifest
• CLAUDE.md with AI context for Claude Code
• .claude/commands/ with slash command templates
• .ikary/ directory for project configuration

After scaffolding, the wizard prints next steps specific to your chosen workflow.

ikary validate

Validates a Cell manifest JSON file against the schema and runs semantic checks.

ikary validate ./manifest.json

On success, it prints entity, page, and role counts. On failure, it lists each error with its path and message.

# Example output on failure
✖ 2 validation errors

  spec.entities[0].fields[1].type
  Invalid field type "number". Expected string | boolean | date | ...

  spec.pages[0].entity
  Entity "unknown_entity" is not defined in spec.entities

ikary compile

Compiles a Cell manifest to its normalized form. The engine resolves defaults, derives computed fields, and produces the structure that runtimes consume.

ikary compile ./manifest.json

Write the output to a file:

ikary compile ./manifest.json -o compiled.json

Print to stdout instead:

ikary compile ./manifest.json --stdout

Option	Description
-o, --output <file>	Write compiled JSON to a file
--stdout	Print compiled JSON to stdout

ikary preview

Compiles a manifest and shows instructions for previewing it in the IKARY Playground.

ikary preview ./manifest.json

The command validates and compiles the manifest first. If compilation succeeds, it prints a link to the live IKARY Playground where you can paste the compiled output.

A local preview server is planned for a future release.

Version

Check the installed version:

ikary --version

Requirements

• Node.js 20 or later