CLI reference

The `apex` command.

One CLI covers the whole lifecycle — develop, generate, migrate, build, serve, and inspect your MCP tools. Every command and flag below is from the source.

Overview #

apex ships with @apex-stack/core. Install it globally (npm i -g @apex-stack/core) and apex works in any project; otherwise it's a project-local binary wired to npm scripts (npm run dev) or run via npx apex.

Command	What it does
`apex new`	Scaffold a new app, install dependencies, and init git.
`apex dev`	Start the development server (SSR + hydrate, API + MCP, hot reload).
`apex build`	Prerender pages to deployable HTML + client bundles.
`apex start`	Run a production build made with `apex build --server`.
`apex make`	Generate a page, component, or API route.
`apex migrate`	Apply pending SQL migrations.
`apex mcp`	Inspect the local MCP server — list or call tools.

apex new #

Scaffold a new Apex JS app in a new directory — then install dependencies and initialize a git repo.

apex new [dir] [--no-install] [--no-git]

Argument / flag	Default	Description
`dir` (positional)	`apex-app`	Target directory for the new app.
`--no-install`	installs	Skip installing dependencies.
`--no-git`	inits git	Skip initializing a git repository.

No global install? npm create apexjs@latest my-app runs the same scaffolder via npx, then use npm run dev.

apex dev #

Start the Apex JS development server.

apex dev [root] [--port <n>] [--islands]

Argument / flag	Default	Description
`root` (positional)	`.`	Project root.
`--port`	`3000`	Port to listen on.
`--islands`	`false`	Render in islands mode (static-first). See Islands.

apex dev
apex dev --port 4000
apex dev --islands

apex build #

Prerender pages to deployable HTML plus per-page client bundles.

apex build [root] [--outDir <dir>] [--islands] [--server]

Argument / flag	Default	Description
`root` (positional)	`.`	Project root.
`--outDir`	`dist`	Output directory.
`--islands`	`false`	Static-first islands mode (zero-JS static site).
`--server`	`false`	Build a Node server (dynamic routes + API/MCP). Pair with `apex start`.

apex build            # prerender + hydrate → static dist/
apex build --islands  # zero-JS static site (SSG)
apex build --server   # deployable Node server target

The three modes are explained in full on Build & deploy.

apex start #

Run a production build produced by apex build --server (no Vite).

apex start [dir] [--port <n>]

Argument / flag	Default	Description
`dir` (positional)	`dist`	Build directory (must contain `apex-manifest.json`).
`--port`	`3000`	Port to listen on.

apex build --server && apex start

apex make #

Generate a page, component, or API route from a template.

apex make <kind> <name> [--root <dir>]

Argument / flag	Default	Description
`kind` (positional)	—	`page` \| `component` \| `api` (required).
`name` (positional)	—	Name, e.g. `about`, `Counter`, `todos` (required).
`--root`	`.`	Project root.

Kind	Creates
`page`	`pages/<name>.alpine` — a loader + `x-data` template + scoped style.
`component`	`components/<name>.alpine` — a small interactive component.
`api`	`server/api/<name>.ts` — a `defineApexRoute` that's REST + MCP.

apex make page about
apex make component Counter
apex make api todos

Fails if the target file already exists (it won't overwrite your work).

apex migrate #

Apply pending SQL migrations from db/migrations/*.sql (idempotent). Resolves @apex-stack/data from your app.

apex migrate [--db <file>] [--driver <d>] [--url <url>] [--dir <dir>] [--root <dir>]

Flag	Default	Description
`--db`	`data.db`	SQLite file path (libSQL).
`--driver`	`sqlite`	`sqlite` \| `postgres` \| `pglite`.
`--url`	—	Connection URL (Postgres) — overrides `--db`.
`--dir`	`db/migrations`	Migrations directory.
`--root`	`.`	Project root.

apex migrate
apex migrate --driver postgres --url $DATABASE_URL

See Data → Migrations.

apex mcp #

Inspect the local MCP server — list its tools or call one. Reuses the bundled MCP SDK (nothing to install).

apex mcp [--url <url>] [--call <name>] [--args <json>]

Flag	Default	Description
`--url`	`http://localhost:3000/mcp`	MCP endpoint URL.
`--call`	—	Name of a tool to call. Omit to list all tools.
`--args`	`{}`	JSON arguments for `--call`.

apex mcp                                  # list tools + signatures
apex mcp --call add --args '{"a":2,"b":3}'

Requires a running dev server. More on AI-native → inspector.

create-apexjs #

The scaffolder (a separate, unscoped package) — the entry point for a new project.

npm create apexjs@latest [dir]   # dir defaults to "apex-app"

It copies the default template, renames _gitignore → .gitignore, substitutes the project name, and prints next steps. See Getting started.

The apex command.