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id PatternFly CLI
title PatternFly CLI
section developer-guides

The PatternFly CLI is a command-line tool for scaffolding projects, performing code modifications, and running project-related tasks. It aims to streamline development workflows and improve productivity. The published package is @patternfly/patternfly-cli on npm.

What does the PatternFly CLI help with?

  • Project scaffolding: Quickly set up new PatternFly based projects for development and prototyping via predefined templates.
  • Code modifications: Automate repetitive code changes to help accelerate PatternFly version upgrades.
  • Task runner: Execute project-related tasks efficiently, such as source code management and task running.

How do I set up PatternFly CLI?

Prerequisites

There are a few key prerequisites to meet before using PatternFly CLI. For macOS, WSL, and Linux, we recommended using install script to address the following prerequisites (you might still need administrator access for system packages). For a Windows-based system, you will need to install the following items manually:

  • Node.js (Supported versions: 20–24) and npm
  • Corepack (Included with Node.js and enabled via corepack enable after installing npm)
  • GitHub CLI (gh)

Installation

Install script (macOS and Linux)

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

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

The script might prompt you to include sudo when your system package manager installs GitHub CLI.

Windows

After installing the prerequisites on your machine, install the published package globally:

npm install -g @patternfly/patternfly-cli

How do I use PatternFly CLI?

After installation, you can verify the latest version of the CLI has been installed by running the following terminal command:

Available CLI commands

Once the PatternFly CLI is installed, you can run the following commands via patternfly-cli [command]:

Command Usage
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.

For the most up-to-date flags and behavior guidance, refer to PatternFly CLI README on GitHub.

Custom templates

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

Create a project based on custom templates:

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

List templates included in custom file:

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

JSON format (Array of template objects, shown in the 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 (such as ["--single-branch", "--branch", "main"])
  • packageManager (optional): npm, yarn, or pnpm; defaults to npm if omitted