CLI reference · source audited

CLI commands.

Nift has a deliberately compact command surface. Start with the complete map below, then use the grouped tables to compare modes and options without hunting through separate descriptions.

Complete command map

# Build
nift build [names...] [-p]
nift build --all [-p]
nift build --auto
nift build --repair [-p]

# Inspect
nift status [-p]
nift info [names...]
nift info --all
nift info --names
nift info --tracking
nift info --watching

# Track and manage pages
nift track name [title] [template]
nift untrack name...
nift rm name...
nift cp source destination
nift mv source destination
nift watch directory [content-ext] [template] [output-ext]
nift unwatch directory

# Create a project
nift init [--target=platform] [--ext=.ext] [--handover]

# Minify files, with or without a Nift project
nift minify [-i|--in-place] file...

# Scripting
nift run path
nift sh
nift eval [--json] expression
nift eval --capabilities

# General
nift about
nift version
nift commands

Build

These are four mutually exclusive build modes. Positional names, --all, --auto and --repair cannot be combined in one invocation.

Command	Use it when	What it does
`nift build`	Normal development	Checks every tracked page and rebuilds only pages affected by the current dependency state.
`nift build name...`	You explicitly want particular pages	Builds the named tracked pages, whether or not the ordinary incremental check considers them current.
`nift build --all`	You need a full rebuild	Builds every tracked page regardless of incremental state.
`nift build --auto`	You want continuous rebuilding	Runs the incremental check every 200 ms. Press `q` to stop in an interactive terminal.
`nift build --repair`	A build was interrupted or derived state is suspect	Reconstructs derived build state and clears a stale `.unfinished` condition. It refuses to take over a build owned by a live process.

nift build
nift build about docs/getting-started
nift build --all
nift build --repair
nift build --auto

-p can be added to ordinary, named, --all and --repair builds for full per-page detail instead of compact summaries. It is also accepted by status.

build --auto keeps the terminal quiet.

The latest meaningful build output is stored in .nift/build-auto.log without terminal colour codes. The file is rewritten only when that output changes. In non-interactive use, stop the process from the surrounding shell or service.

Inspect project state

Command	Result
`nift status [-p]`	Dry-runs the incremental analysis and reports which pages need rebuilding and why, without changing output or page metadata.
`nift info`	Shows resolved metadata for all tracked entries.
`nift info name...`	Shows resolved metadata for the requested tracked names.
`nift info --all`	Explicit spelling of the default all-entry metadata view.
`nift info --names`	Lists tracked names.
`nift info --tracking`	Shows tracking state, including the tracking file and resolved paths.
`nift info --watching`	Shows watched directories and their content-extension, template and output-extension rules.

The info commands are script-friendly.

Interactive terminals receive headings and syntax colouring. Redirected or piped output is plain valid JSON suitable for tools such as jq.

Track and manage pages

Command	What it changes
`nift track name [title] [template]`	Adds a tracked item. The title defaults to the final name component and the template defaults to `default-template`.
`nift untrack name...`	Stops tracking items without deleting their content files.
`nift rm name...`	Removes tracking plus the corresponding content and generated output.
`nift cp source destination`	Copies a tracked item.
`nift mv source destination`	Moves a tracked item.

Tracked and destination names cannot escape through a .. path component. del, copy and move are accepted aliases for rm, cp and mv.

Watch directories

Command	What it does
`nift watch directory [content-ext] [template] [output-ext]`	Adds a watched directory, using supplied rules or project defaults.
`nift unwatch directory`	Removes one watched directory.

Initialise a project

nift init [--target=platform] [--ext=.ext] [--handover] creates a project. With no options, it creates the standard HTML starter. Compatible named options are order-independent.

Option	Effect
`--ext=.ext`	Changes the default content/output extension, for example `--ext=.php` or `--ext=.txt`.
`--target=platform`	Creates the small provider-specific files needed by a supported static-hosting target.
`--handover`	Writes the canonical `HANDOVER.md` in the project root for human- and AI-directed development.

nift init
nift init --ext=.php
nift init --target=vercel
nift init --target=cloudflare --ext=.htm
nift init --handover

Supported targets are vercel, netlify, amplify, azure, firebase, render, cloudflare, github-pages and supabase. Target presets accept .html and .htm; runtime extensions such as .php are rejected. Supabase keeps the ordinary public/ output because it provides backend services rather than a special frontend artifact.

The target list is not a hosting allow-list. For another platform, initialise a normal project and configure the provider manually. The removed positional form nift init .html is not accepted; use --ext=.html. See Platform targets for generated files and output layouts.

Minify arbitrary files

nift minify [-i|--in-place] file... works inside or outside a Nift project. By default it leaves each source untouched and writes a sibling name.min.ext file.

nift minify public/index.html
# public/index.html -> public/index.min.html

nift minify assets/app.js assets/site.css
# assets/app.min.js + assets/site.min.css

nift minify --in-place generated/app.js
nift minify -i generated/site.css

Option	Effect
none	Writes the safe sibling output `name.min.ext`.
`-i`, `--in-place`	Explicitly overwrites each source file.

Supported extensions are HTML/HTM, CSS, JS/MJS/CJS, JSX, JSON, XML and SVG. At least one file is required. Unsupported, missing, malformed or unwritable files produce a non-zero status; other valid arguments in the invocation are still processed. Minification details →

Scripting

nift run path executes a native Nift script in a fresh root scope. nift sh opens the persistent interactive script environment. Their language, I/O, filesystem and stream facilities live in the separate Scripting reference rather than the website-focused Core reference.

nift run scripts/report.nift
nift sh

Evaluate expressions

nift eval exposes the same expression engine used by templates and scripts, making small data queries available directly to shell scripts and coding agents.

nift eval '"hello".to_upper()'
nift eval --json 'json("package.json").version'
nift eval --json 'project.files.size()'
nift eval --capabilities

--json writes deterministic machine-readable JSON to stdout while diagnostics stay on stderr. --capabilities reports the evaluator contract and supported value-method surface for agents. When invoked inside a Nift project, the read-only project value is also available.

General and aliases

Canonical command	Purpose	Aliases
`nift about`	Shows a short project description, installed version, license and website.	—
`nift version`	Prints the installed version.	`--version`, `-v`
`nift commands`	Prints the executable's built-in command map.	`cmds`, `--help`, `-h`
`nift rm`	Removes tracked items and their owned files.	`del`
`nift cp`	Copies a tracked item.	`copy`
`nift mv`	Moves a tracked item.	`move`

Removed spellings

build-all, build-updated, build-names, build-auto, info-all, info-watching, info-tracking and info-names are not aliases. They fail with a non-zero status and point to the unified replacement, such as nift build --all.

Commands reject unexpected arguments and unknown options instead of silently ignoring them. Run nift commands for the executable's concise built-in reminder.

RelatedIncremental builds →