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CLI reference

Commands and accepted options in the TidyPress Node CLI.

 tidypress <command> [options] 

Global --help/-h prints the command list. Global --version/-v prints one version line. Command-specific --help is not currently implemented; unknown options fail with a usage hint and exit code 2.

Global --verbose adds stack details to failures. --install-skills is a compatibility shortcut for skills install --force; prefer the explicit subcommand in documentation and automation.

Core workflow

init command

tidypress init [--preset &lt;name&gt;] [--site-url &lt;url&gt;] [--with-astro] scaffolds the site/ publish root. --starter remains an alias of --preset.

dev command

tidypress dev [--port &lt;number&gt;] starts Astro development. -p aliases --port; the default is 4321.

build command

tidypress build [--output &lt;directory&gt;] [--no-llms-txt] builds static HTML, assets, and Pagefind. -o aliases --output.

preview command

tidypress preview [--port &lt;number&gt;] serves the production build locally.

clean command

Removes the publish-root build directory and local TidyPress project cache.

doctor command

Validates the baseline publish-root setup and reports actionable failures.

Deploy and domains

deploy command

tidypress deploy [target] [--with-ci]. With no target, the command builds and reports an artifact-only result. Named targets: vercel, netlify, surge, github-pages, cloudflare, docker, static, s3, and ssh. Local paths and file:// URLs copy the output. S3 and SSH targets accept their native URL forms.

domain setup command

tidypress domain setup [domain] --platform &lt;platform&gt; prints provider DNS and project configuration guidance; it does not modify DNS.

Content and migration

import command

tidypress import medium --url &lt;url&gt;, import devto --username &lt;username/slug-or-url&gt;, import substack --export &lt;path&gt;, or import ghost --export &lt;path&gt;. --scheduled &lt;value&gt; is optional. Dev.to performs a live public import; other providers create reviewable scaffolds from the supplied source.

add-version command

tidypress add-version &lt;label&gt; [--set-latest] creates a docs version folder and can update the configured latest version.

migrate-sections command

Produces the legacy sections to collections migration output.

Agent skills and release checks

skills install command

tidypress skills install [--force] explicitly installs the two bundled skills for detected Cursor, Claude Code, or Codex locations. Existing files are preserved unless --force is set. No environment variables, shell profiles, agent settings, or project files are modified. See Agent skills for the exact target matrix.

release-check command

Checks package version alignment and release metadata. It is primarily a maintainer command.

Experimental commands

editor, export, and ai require both their config capability and the matching --enable-experimental-editor, --enable-experimental-export, or --enable-experimental-ai flag. They intentionally stop with EXPERIMENTAL_NOT_IMPLEMENTED; these are reserved command contracts, not part of the stable publishing workflow.

Environment escape hatch

TIDYPRESS_PUBLISH_ROOT selects a publish root when discovery is ambiguous. Treat it as a CI/diagnostic override; normal projects should rely on the config location. Engine-internal variables are not public authoring configuration.