Cli commands

CLI Commands

This is the canonical CLI reference for Govard.

Aliases and Shortcuts

Root Lifecycle Shortcuts

Shortcut	Equivalent
`govard up`	`govard env up`
`govard down`	`govard env down`
`govard restart`	`govard env restart`
`govard ps`	`govard env ps`
`govard logs`	`govard env logs`

Command Aliases

Alias	Full Command
`govard boot`	`govard bootstrap`
`govard cfg`	`govard config`
`govard dbg`	`govard debug`
`govard gui`	`govard desktop`
`govard diag`	`govard doctor`
`govard ext`	`govard extensions`
`govard prj`	`govard project`
`govard rmt`	`govard remote`
`govard sh`	`govard shell`
`govard snap`	`govard snapshot`

`govard tool` Aliases

Alias	Full Command
`govard tool mr`	`govard tool magerun`

`govard sync` Aliases

--from is an alias for --source
--to is an alias for --destination
-e, --environment remains a supported source-environment option

🌿 Environment Commands

`govard init`

Detect the project framework and generate .govard.yml.

govard init
govard init --framework magento2
govard init --framework custom
govard init --migrate-from warden

When migrating from Warden, govard init --migrate-from warden maps WARDEN_TABLE_PREFIX to Govard's table_prefix field for Magento 2, Magento 1, and OpenMage projects.

`govard bootstrap`

Run bootstrap flows for clone or fresh-install setups.

govard bootstrap
govard bootstrap --clone --environment staging --yes
govard bootstrap --framework magento2 --fresh --framework-version 2.4.9
govard bootstrap -e staging --no-pii --no-noise

Mode selection:

--fresh + --framework + --framework-version — fresh install via scaffolder
--clone + --environment — rsync the whole source from a remote server

Source selection:

-e, --environment — source remote name; accepts standard names (staging, production, dev) and any custom identifier (qa, preprod, demo, client-uat)
--remote — alias for --environment
--db-dump — import database from a local SQL file path

Privacy & performance filters:

Flag	Effect
`-N, --no-noise`	Exclude ephemeral data (logs, sessions, cache tags, cron history)
`-S, --no-pii`	Exclude sensitive data (customers, orders, admin users, passwords)
`--delete`	Delete destination files not present on source
`--no-compress`	Disable rsync compression
`-X, --exclude`	Custom rsync exclude patterns (repeatable)
`--no-db`	Skip database import
`--no-media`	Skip media sync
`--media [mode]`	Media sync mode (`none`, `minimal`, `optimized`, `all`)
`--no-composer`	Skip `composer install`
`--no-admin`	Skip admin user creation (Magento 2 only)
`--no-stream-db`	Use local temp file for DB transfer

For Magento projects with table_prefix set, DB privacy filters target prefixed table names automatically.

Magento special flags:

Plan & confirmation:

--plan — print plan and exit without executing
-y, --yes — skip interactive confirmation (CI/non-interactive)

`govard env`

Project lifecycle and Docker Compose wrapper.

govard env up
govard env start
govard env stop
govard env restart
govard env down
govard env ps
govard env logs php -f
govard env pull
govard env build
govard env cleanup

govard env up flags:

Flag	Effect
`--pull`	Pull images before starting
`--fallback-local-build`	Build missing images locally
`--remove-orphans`	Remove orphaned containers
`--quickstart`	Fastest startup path
`--update-lock`	Auto-update `govard.lock` on mismatches
`--no-tuning`	Skip framework auto-configuration prompts

Files re-rendered on env up:

~/.govard/compose/<project-hash>.yml
~/.govard/nginx/<project>/default.conf
~/.govard/apache/<project>/httpd.conf
~/.govard/nginx/<project>/mage-run-map.conf

govard env down flags:

-v, --volumes — remove volumes
--rmi local — remove local images

`govard svc`

Manage global services (proxy, Mailpit, PHPMyAdmin, Portainer).

govard svc up
govard svc restart --no-trust
govard svc logs --tail 50
govard svc sleep
govard svc wake

Portainer is accessible at https://portainer.govard.test Default login: admin / AdminGovard123$

`govard domain`

Manage extra local domains for the current project.

govard domain add brand-b.test
govard domain remove brand-b.test
govard domain list

`govard status`

List running Govard environments across the workspace.

govard status

`govard desktop`

Launch the Wails desktop app.

govard desktop
govard desktop --dev
govard desktop --background

See Desktop App for details.

🛠️ Development Commands

`govard shell`

Open a shell in the application container.

govard shell
govard shell --no-tty

PHP frameworks → php container at /var/www/html
Node-first frameworks (Next.js, Emdash) → web container at /app

`govard debug`

Manage Xdebug status and sessions.

govard debug status
govard debug on
govard debug off
govard debug shell

Requests route to php-debug only when the XDEBUG_SESSION cookie matches stack.xdebug_session.

`govard test`

Run project test tools inside the application container.

govard test phpunit
govard test phpstan
govard test mftf
govard test integration

`govard custom`

Run custom commands from .govard/commands or ~/.govard/commands.

govard custom list
govard custom hello
govard custom deploy -- --dry-run

`govard project`

Browse and manage known projects.

govard project list
govard project list --orphans
govard project open billing
govard project delete demo
govard project delete --yes demo

[WARNING] CAUTION govard project delete removes persistent database volumes by default. Project source code is never deleted.

Deletion process:

Runs pre-delete lifecycle hooks
Executes docker compose down -v (removes containers + volumes)
Unregisters proxy domains
Removes project from registry (projects.json)
Runs post-delete hooks

🔗 Remote, Sync, and Data Commands

`govard remote`

Manage named remotes for sync, deploy, shell, and database workflows.

govard remote add staging --host staging.example.com --user deploy --path /var/www/app
govard remote copy-id staging
govard remote test staging
govard remote exec staging -- ls -la
govard remote audit tail --status failure --lines 50

For home-relative remote paths, quote the value:

govard remote add staging --host staging.example.com --user deploy --path '~/public_html'

Key features:

Capabilities: files, media, db, deploy
Auth methods: keychain, ssh-agent, keyfile
Production write protection by default
Audit logs: ~/.govard/remote.log

→ Full guide: Remotes and Sync

`govard sync`

Synchronize files, media, or databases between local and named remotes.

govard sync --source staging --destination local --full --plan
govard sync --from staging --to local --media
govard sync -s prod --file --path app/etc/config.php
govard sync --db --no-noise --no-pii

Auto-selects staging remote if no --source is provided, falling back to dev. When --media is used without a mode, Govard defaults it to optimized.

Key flags:

Flag	Effect
`-s, --source` / `--from`	Source environment
`-d, --destination` / `--to`	Destination environment
`--file`, `--media`, `--db`, `--full`	Scope selection
`--plan`	Print plan and exit
`-I, --include`	Rsync include pattern (repeatable)
`-X, --exclude`	Rsync exclude pattern (repeatable)
`-m, --media [mode]`	Media sync scope (`none`, `minimal`, `optimized`, `all`); bare `--media` defaults to `optimized`
`-N, --no-noise`	Exclude ephemeral data
`-P, --no-pii`	Exclude sensitive data

`govard db`

Database utilities for local and remote-backed workflows.

govard db connect
govard db dump
govard db dump -e staging --local
govard db query "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM sales_order"
govard db info
govard db top
govard db import --file backup.sql --drop
govard db import --stream-db -e staging --drop
govard db clone-volume warden_magento2_dbdata

`govard deploy`

Run deploy lifecycle hooks for the current project.

govard deploy

`govard snapshot`

Manage local and remote snapshots for DB and media.

govard snapshot create
govard snapshot create -e staging
govard snapshot list
govard snapshot list -e staging
govard snapshot restore latest
govard snapshot pull latest -e staging
govard snapshot push before-deploy -e prod

`govard open`

Open common browser targets.

govard open app
govard open admin
govard open mail
govard open db
govard open db --pma
govard open db --client
govard open db -e staging

`govard tunnel`

Manage public tunnels (requires cloudflared).

govard tunnel start
govard tunnel status
govard tunnel stop

[IMPORTANT] IMPORTANT The cloudflared binary must be installed separately. Install via the official Cloudflare repository or GitHub releases.

🔧 Tool Commands

Run framework CLIs inside project containers:

govard tool magento [command]    # Magento 2
govard tool magerun [command]    # Magento 1 / Magento 2 (Shortcut: mr)
govard tool artisan [command]    # Laravel
govard tool drush [command]      # Drupal
govard tool symfony [command]    # Symfony
govard tool shopware [command]   # Shopware
govard tool cake [command]       # CakePHP
govard tool wp [command]         # WordPress

# General tools
govard tool composer [command]
govard tool npm [command]
govard tool yarn [command]
govard tool npx [command]
govard tool pnpm [command]
govard tool grunt [command]

For node-first frameworks, package-manager commands run in the web container at /app.

⚙️ Configuration Commands

govard config get stack.php_version
govard config set stack.php_version 8.4
govard config set table_prefix demo_
govard config profile              # Show recommended profile for current framework
govard config profile --json      # Output profile as JSON
govard config profile apply       # Apply recommended profile to .govard.yml
govard config auto                # Magento 2: inject settings into env.php

`govard config profile`

Display the recommended runtime profile for the detected framework.

govard config profile
govard config profile --json

Output includes detected framework, recommended PHP version, database, cache, search, and other service configurations.

`govard config profile switch`

Switch to a different environment profile. Profiles allow running the same project with different runtime configurations (e.g., PHP 8.2 for production testing, PHP 8.3 for development).

govard config profile switch upgrade
govard config profile switch staging
govard config profile switch          # Interactive selection

Profile files are stored as .govard.<name>.yml in the project root. The selected profile is persisted per-project in ~/.govard/projects.json.

After switching, run govard env up to apply the new environment. You'll be prompted for confirmation when a profile change requires restarting containers.

`govard config profile clear`

Reset to the default profile (no profile active).

govard config profile clear

`govard extensions`

Initialize .govard/* extension scaffolding.

govard extensions init
govard extensions init --force

`govard blueprint cache`

Manage the remote blueprint registry cache.

govard blueprint cache list
govard blueprint cache clear

🩺 Diagnostics

`govard doctor`

Run startup diagnostics with actionable remediation.

govard doctor
govard doctor --fix
govard doctor --json
govard doctor --pack
govard doctor trust

Checks include: Docker, Compose, ports, disk sanity, Govard home, compose directory health, SSH agent, and outbound connectivity.

--fix — Automatically detect and repair common issues
trust — Install Root CA into system trust store + browser NSS

🔁 Utility Commands

`govard lock`

Generate or validate govard.lock snapshots for environment drift detection.

govard lock generate
govard lock check
govard lock diff
govard lock generate --file .govard/govard.lock

`govard self-update`

Download release artifacts, verify checksums, and replace binaries atomically.

govard self-update

`govard upgrade`

Native framework upgrade pipeline.

govard upgrade --version 2.4.8-p4     # Magento 2
govard upgrade --version 11            # Laravel
govard upgrade --version 7             # Symfony
govard upgrade --version 6.7           # WordPress
govard upgrade --version 11 --dry-run  # Preview steps

Flags:

Flag	Effect
`--version`	Target version (required)
`--dry-run`	Show steps without executing
`--no-db-upgrade`	Skip DB migrations
`--no-env-update`	Skip profile update and container restart
`-y, --yes`	Auto-confirm all prompts

`govard version`

govard version

`govard redis`

Smart shortcut for Redis/Valkey management.

govard redis cli
govard redis flush
govard redis info

`govard varnish`

Smart shortcut for Varnish management.

govard varnish purge
govard varnish status

🌐 Global Flags

All commands support:

-h, --help — Show help

← Getting Started | Configuration →

Govard — Go-based Versatile Runtime & Development GitHub · Releases · Issues · MIT License

Cli commands

CLI Commands

Aliases and Shortcuts

Root Lifecycle Shortcuts

Command Aliases

govard tool Aliases

govard sync Aliases

🌿 Environment Commands

govard init

govard bootstrap

govard env

govard svc

govard domain

govard status

govard desktop

🛠️ Development Commands

govard shell

govard debug

govard test

govard custom

govard project

🔗 Remote, Sync, and Data Commands

govard remote

govard sync

govard db

govard deploy

govard snapshot

govard open

govard tunnel

🔧 Tool Commands

⚙️ Configuration Commands

govard config profile

govard config profile switch

govard config profile clear

govard extensions

govard blueprint cache

🩺 Diagnostics

govard doctor

🔁 Utility Commands

govard lock

govard self-update

govard upgrade

govard version

govard redis

govard varnish

🌐 Global Flags

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

📚 Govard Wiki

🚀 Getting Started

📖 Reference

🔗 Workflows

🏗️ Developer

ℹ️ More

Clone this wiki locally

`govard tool` Aliases

`govard sync` Aliases

`govard init`

`govard bootstrap`

`govard env`

`govard svc`

`govard domain`

`govard status`

`govard desktop`

`govard shell`

`govard debug`

`govard test`

`govard custom`

`govard project`

`govard remote`

`govard sync`

`govard db`

`govard deploy`

`govard snapshot`

`govard open`

`govard tunnel`

`govard config profile`

`govard config profile switch`

`govard config profile clear`

`govard extensions`

`govard blueprint cache`

`govard doctor`

`govard lock`

`govard self-update`

`govard upgrade`

`govard version`

`govard redis`

`govard varnish`