CLI

CLI Tools

The ndi command-line tool lets you create configuration files, inspect services, validate your container, and export dependency graphs — all without writing a single line of code.

Installation

The CLI is included when you install the package:

npm install node-dependency-injection

The ndi binary is then available in ./node_modules/.bin/ndi, or globally if you install with -g.

Commands overview

Command	Description
config:create	Create an empty configuration file
config:check	Check a configuration file for syntax errors
container:service	Inspect a single service definition
container:graph	Export the service dependency graph
container:validate	Validate the full service container

---

config:create

Creates an empty configuration file in the format of your choice.

ndi config:create <path> [options]

Arguments

Argument	Description
<path>	Directory where the configuration file will be created

Options

Option	Default	Description
-n, --name <name>	services	File name (without extension)
-f, --format <format>	yaml	File format: yaml, json, js, xml

Examples

# Create services.yaml in ./config
ndi config:create ./config

# Create my-services.json in ./config
ndi config:create ./config --name my-services --format json

---

config:check

Loads a configuration file and reports any syntax or parsing errors.

ndi config:check <path>

Arguments

Argument	Description
<path>	Path to the configuration file (.yaml, .json, .js, or .xml)

The format is detected automatically from the file extension.

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	File is valid
1	File contains errors

Example

ndi config:check ./config/services.yaml

---

container:service

Displays detailed information about a single registered service.

ndi container:service <path> <service>

Arguments

Argument	Description
<path>	Path to the configuration file
<service>	Service ID to inspect

Example

ndi container:service ./config/services.yaml mailer

The output is a table showing the service's class, arguments, public flag, method calls, tags, properties, laziness, deprecated message, factory, synthetic flag, decoration, shared scope, and parent.

---

container:graph

Exports the service dependency graph in one of several formats.

ndi container:graph <path> [options]

Arguments

Argument	Description
<path>	Path to the configuration file

Options

Option	Default	Description
--format <format>	mermaid	Output format: mermaid, dot, or json
--filter <pattern>	—	Keep only services whose ID matches this regex
--tag <name>	—	Keep only services that have the given tag
--root <id>	—	Show graph starting from this root service
--depth <number>	unlimited	Maximum traversal depth when --root is set
--exclude-private	false	Exclude services marked as private

Examples

# Print a Mermaid diagram to stdout
ndi container:graph ./config/services.yaml

# Export as Graphviz DOT
ndi container:graph ./config/services.yaml --format dot

# Export as JSON, filtered to the payment group
ndi container:graph ./config/services.yaml --format json --filter '^payment\.'

# Show only the subtree of 'checkout', 2 levels deep
ndi container:graph ./config/services.yaml --root checkout --depth 2

# Pipe a Mermaid diagram into a file
ndi container:graph ./config/services.yaml > graph.mmd

See the Graph Exporter guide for details on the output formats and filtering options.

---

container:validate

Compiles and validates the full service container, reporting errors, warnings, and informational messages.

ndi container:validate <path> [options]

Arguments

Argument	Description
<path>	Path to the configuration file

Options

Option	Default	Description
--strict	false	Exit with code 1 on warnings as well as errors
--format <format>	text	Output format: text or json

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	Container is valid (no errors; no warnings when --strict is used)
1	Container has errors (or warnings in --strict mode)

Examples

# Validate with human-readable output
ndi container:validate ./config/services.yaml

# Validate in strict mode (warnings also fail the build)
ndi container:validate ./config/services.yaml --strict

# Machine-readable JSON output (useful in CI pipelines)
ndi container:validate ./config/services.yaml --format json

JSON output shape

{
  "isValid": true,
  "serviceCount": 12,
  "errors": [],
  "warnings": [],
  "info": []
}

---

Related guides

• Configuration Files
• Container Validation
• Graph Exporter
• Compiling Container