Patternfly CLI

Patternfly CLI is a command-line tool designed for scaffolding projects, performing code modifications, and running project-related tasks. It aims to streamline development workflows and improve productivity.

Features

• Project Scaffolding: Quickly set up new projects with predefined templates.
• Code Modifications: Automate repetitive code changes.
• Task Runner: Execute project-related tasks efficiently.

Installation

Install script (macOS and Linux)

You can pipe the repository install script into bash. It installs Node.js with nvm when node is not available, enables Corepack, installs the GitHub CLI when it is missing, then installs the CLI globally from npm:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/patternfly/patternfly-cli/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

Swap main for another branch or tag if you need a specific revision. To save the script and inspect it before running:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/patternfly/patternfly-cli/main/scripts/install.sh -o install-patternfly-cli.sh
bash install-patternfly-cli.sh

The script may prompt for sudo when your system package manager installs GitHub CLI.

npm

If you already have the prerequisites on your machine, install the published package globally:

npm install -g @patternfly/patternfly-cli

Uninstall

Uninstall script (macOS and Linux)

You can pipe the repository uninstall script into bash. It removes the globally installed @patternfly/patternfly-cli package with npm. It does not remove Node.js, nvm, Corepack, or GitHub CLI.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/patternfly/patternfly-cli/main/scripts/uninstall.sh | bash

Swap main for another branch or tag if you need a specific revision. To save the script and inspect it before running:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/patternfly/patternfly-cli/main/scripts/uninstall.sh -o uninstall-patternfly-cli.sh
bash uninstall-patternfly-cli.sh

npm

If you installed with npm globally, you can remove the package with:

npm uninstall -g @patternfly/patternfly-cli

Prerequisites

If you use the install script on macOS or Linux, it covers the items below (you may still need administrator access for system packages). Otherwise, install the following yourself before using the CLI:

• Node.js and npm (v20–24) — npm · Node.js downloads
• Corepack — enable with corepack enable (included with Node.js). Run the command after installing npm.
• GitHub CLI — Install GitHub CLI

Usage

After installation, you can use the CLI by running:

patternfly-cli [command]

Available Commands

• create: Create a new project from the available templates.
• list: List all available templates (built-in and optional custom).
• update: Update your project to a newer version.
• cli-upgrade: Upgrade the globally installed CLI to the latest npm release. It runs npm install -g @patternfly/patternfly-cli@latest; use your package manager’s equivalent if you did not install with npm.
• init: Initialize a git repository and optionally create a GitHub repository.
• save: Commit and push changes to the current branch.
• load: Pull the latest updates from GitHub.
• deploy: Build and deploy your app to GitHub Pages.

Custom templates

You can add your own templates in addition to the built-in ones by passing a JSON file with the --template-file (or -t) option. Custom templates are merged with the built-in list; if a custom template has the same name as a built-in one, the custom definition is used.

Create with custom templates:

patternfly-cli create my-app --template-file ./my-templates.json

List templates including custom file:

patternfly-cli list --template-file ./my-templates.json

JSON format (array of template objects, same shape as the built-in templates):

[
  {
    "name": "my-template",
    "description": "My custom project template",
    "repo": "https://github.com/org/repo.git",
    "options": ["--single-branch", "--branch", "main"],
    "packageManager": "npm"
  }
]

• name (required): Template identifier.
• description (required): Short description shown in prompts and list.
• repo (required): Git clone URL.
• options (optional): Array of extra arguments for git clone (e.g. ["--single-branch", "--branch", "main"]).
• packageManager (optional): npm, yarn, or pnpm; defaults to npm if omitted.

Development / Installation

Install Dependencies

npm install

Build

To build the project, run:

npm run build

Installing the cli

After building the cli you can install the cli globally by running the following command:

npm install -g

After that you can now execute the cli via patternfly-cli command in the terminal.

Releasing

This project uses semantic-release to automate versioning and releases based on Conventional Commits.

• CI: Pushing to main runs the release workflow. If there are commits that warrant a release (e.g. feat:, fix:, BREAKING CHANGE:), it will create a GitHub release, update CHANGELOG.md, and bump the version in package.json.
• Local dry run: npx semantic-release --dry-run (no push or publish).
• npm publish: By default only GitHub releases are created. To publish to npm, set the NPM_TOKEN secret in the repo and set "npmPublish": true for the @semantic-release/npm plugin in .releaserc.json.