try-nest

A CLI tool that helps you easily get up and running with NestJS sample that are available in the nestjs/nest at sample folder.

Usage

Just run the following in your terminal:

npx try-nest
## alternatively:
npx try-nestjs

or, if you want to make sure that you're using the latest version available:

npx try-nest@latest

This will walk you through picking a sample, naming a directory, and optionally installing dependencies.

Options

Every prompt has a flag, so the whole thing is scriptable:

| Flag | Meaning | |---|---| | -s, --sample <id> | Sample to scaffold, e.g. 01-cats-app | | -d, --dir <path> | Directory to create | | -p, --package-manager <pm> | npm, pnpm, yarn or bun | | --install / --no-install | Install dependencies, or skip | | -y, --yes | Accept defaults instead of prompting | | --list | Print the available samples and exit | | --json | Machine-readable output for --list | | -h, --help | Show help | | -v, --version | Show the version |

With no interactive terminal — in CI, or through a pipe — there is nobody to answer a prompt, so every answer has to arrive as a flag: --sample, --dir and an install decision. Pass --yes to accept the defaults for all of them instead. A missing answer exits 2 naming the flag, rather than waiting on a question nobody can see.

Exit codes

• 0 success,
• 2 bad input,
• 130 a run you ended yourself at a prompt (press Esc or Ctrl+C at any prompt to do so),
• 1 something in the world was broken.

A failed dependency install is a warning, not a failure — the project is already on disk and intact.

Samples are read from nestjs/nest repository at run time, so there is no pinned list and no compatibility guarantee between versions — always use @latest.