CLI Overview

CLI Overview

Syntax

beez [target] [core-options] [-- user-options]

Part	Description
target	Optional task or workflow name
core-options	Beez flags (see CLI Flag Reference)
--	Separator before pass-through arguments
user-options	Parsed and stored; not used by Beez yet

Examples:

beez build --verbose
beez -p test:unit --no-cache
beez --list steps
beez --init list              # Tempify templates (no build.lua; see [[Project Scaffolding]])
beez --install                # install reqpack { ... } dependencies (see [[ReqPack Declaration]])
beez clean -- --extra-arg    # user-options: extra-arg (reserved)

Invocation modes

Beez does one of the following per run. If several mode flags are set, this priority applies:

Priority	Mode	Flag / form
1	List entities	--list <kind>
2	Run one step	-s, --step <name>
3	Run phase(s)	-p, --phase <spec>
4	Run target	<target> (task or workflow)

Utility commands (config inspection, cache maintenance, completion) are handled separately; see Meta and Utility Commands and Cache and Maintenance Flags.

Project scaffolding: beez --init delegates to embedded Tempify and does not load build.lua. See Project Scaffolding.

What requires build.lua

Command type	Needs build.lua?
--help, --version	No
--init	No (embedded Tempify; see Project Scaffolding)
--config-options, --complete-config-options	No
--dump-completion, --install-completion	No
--show-config, --list, -p, -s, <target>	Yes
--clean-cache, --update, --install	Yes (loads config; does not run a target unless you also pass one)

Run beez from the directory that contains build.lua. That directory is the project root.

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	Error (parse error, missing script, unknown target, step failure, etc.)

--help exits 0. Running beez with no arguments shows help and exits 1.

Output flag exclusivity

These three flags cannot be combined:

• --verbose
• --silent
• --error

Combining them is a parse error.

Help and version

beez --help     # or -h
beez --version  # or -v

--version prints Beez and Lua versions.

Next steps

• Running Targets - beez my-workflow
• Filtering by Phase - beez -p ...
• Project Scaffolding - beez --init (Tempify)
• CLI Flag Reference - complete flag list