Skip to main content

CLI Reference

This document serves as a reference to the Medusa CLI tool including how to install it and what commands are available.

Overview

The Medusa CLI serves as a tool that allows you to perform important commands while developing with Medusa.

To use Medusa, it is required to install the CLI tool as it is used to create a new Medusa backend.


How to Install CLI Tool

To install the CLI tool, run the following command in your terminal:

npm install @medusajs/medusa-cli -g

If you run into any errors while installing the CLI tool, check out the troubleshooting section.

The CLI tool is then available under the medusa command. You can see all commands and options with the following command:

medusa --help

Troubleshooting Installation

NPM Error: EACCES Permissions Errors

If you install the Medusa CLI tool with NPM and get a permission error, NPM proposes as a solution either re-installing NPM with a node version manager (nvm), or manually setting npm’s default directory.

You can check out more information in NPM’s documentation.

Powershell Error: command not found: medusa

If you're using Powershell and you installed the CLI tool, but when you try to use it you get the error:

command not found: medusa

Try closing your Powershell window and opening a new one.

Yarn Error: command not found: medusa

If you install the Medusa CLI tool with Yarn, then try to use the CLI tool but get the error:

command not found: medusa

You have to add Yarn’s install location to the PATH variable:

export PATH="$(yarn global bin):$PATH"

You can learn more in Yarn’s documentation.


Common Options

The following options can be used with all available commands.

--help

Learn more about what you can do with the CLI tool or with a specific command.

Alias: -h

medusa new --help

--verbose

Turn on verbose output for detailed logs.

Default: false

medusa new my-backend --verbose

--no-color

Turn off colors in the output.

Alias: --no-colors

Default: false

medusa new my-backend --no-color

--json

Turn on JSON logger.

Default: false

medusa new my-backend --json

--version

If used inside a Medusa project, the version of the Medusa CLI and Medusa project is shown. Otherwise, the version of the Medusa CLI is shown.

Alias: -v

medusa --version

Available Commands

new

Create a new Medusa backend.

medusa new [<backend_name> [<starter_url>]]

Arguments

NameDescriptionDefault
backend_nameThe name of the Medusa backend. It will be used as the name of the directory created.If not provided, you’ll be prompted to enter it.
starter_urlThe URL of the starter to create the backend from.The default starter is used.

Options

NameDescription
-y, --useDefaultsIf the flag is set the command will not interactively collect database credentials.
--skip-dbIf the flag is set the command will not attempt to complete the database setup.
--skip-migrationsIf the flag is set the command will not attempt to complete the database migration.
--skip-envIf the flag is set the command will not attempt to populate .env.
--db-userThe database user to use for database setup and migrations.
--db-databaseThe database used for database setup and migrations.
--db-passThe database password to use for database setup and migrations.
--db-portThe database port to use for database setup and migrations.
--db-hostThe database host to use for database setup and migrations.

develop

Start development backend. This command watches files for any changes to rebuild the files and restart the backend.

medusa develop

Options

NameDescription
-H, --hostSet host. Defaults to localhost.
-p, --portSet port. Defaults to 9000.

start

Start development backend. This command does not watch for file changes or restart the backend.

medusa start

Options

NameDescription
-H, --hostSet host. Defaults to localhost.
-p, --portSet port. Defaults to 9000.

migrations

Migrate the database to the most recent version.

medusa migrations <action>

Arguments

NameDescriptionDefault
actionThe action to perform. Values can be run, show, or revert. run is used to run the migrations; show is used to only show what migrations are available to run; and revert is to undo the last migration.This argument is required and does not have a default value.

seed

Migrates and populates the database with the provided file.

medusa seed --seed-file=<file_path>

Options

NameDescription
-f, --seed-filePath to the file where the seed is defined. (required)
-m, --migrateFlag to indicate if migrations should be run prior to seeding the database. Default is true.

user

Creates a new admin user.

medusa user --email <email> [--password <password>]

Options

NameDescription
-e <email>, --email <email>The email to create a user with. (required)
-p <password>, --password <password>The password to use with the user. If not included, the user will not have a password.
-i <id>, --id <id>The user’s ID. By default it is automatically generated.
--inviteWhether to create an invite instead of a user. When using this option, you don't need to specify a password. If ran successfully, you'll receive the invite token in the output.

telemetry

Enable or disable the collection of anonymous data usage. If no option is provided, the command will enable the collection of anonymous data usage.

medusa telemetry

Options

NameDescription
--enableEnable telemetry (default)
--disableDisable telemetry

See Also

Was this page helpful?