CLI Reference

The blixt CLI scaffolds projects, generates code, runs the development server, and manages database migrations.

blixt <COMMAND>

blixt new

Create a new Blixt project.

blixt new <NAME> [--db <BACKEND>] [--auth]

Argument	Required	Description
`NAME`	yes	Project name (used as directory name and crate name)
`--db <BACKEND>`	no	Database backend: `postgres` (alias `pg`) or `sqlite`. Prompts interactively if omitted.
`--auth`	no	Include authentication scaffold (users, sessions, login/register/password reset)

The command creates a full project directory with:

Cargo.toml configured with the chosen database feature
src/ with controllers, models, and route setup
templates/ with layouts, pages, fragments, components, and email directories
migrations/ directory
static/ with CSS and Datastar JS
.env file with development defaults

Examples:

blixt new my_app --db postgres
blixt new blog --db sqlite
blixt new my_app --auth       # includes auth scaffold with routes pre-wired
blixt new my_app              # interactive database prompt

If no TTY is detected (e.g. CI), the --db flag is required.

blixt dev

Start the development server with file watching and Tailwind CSS hot reload.

blixt dev

This command:

Verifies you are in a Blixt project directory (checks for Cargo.toml)
Downloads the Tailwind CSS binary if not already present
Starts Tailwind in watch mode for live CSS recompilation
Starts cargo run for the application
Watches for file changes in src/ and templates/ and restarts the application automatically

When the application exits with a non-zero status, the dev server waits for file changes before restarting. Press Ctrl+C to shut down.

blixt build

Build the project for production deployment.

blixt build

This command:

Verifies you are in a Blixt project directory
Compiles Tailwind CSS with --minify
Runs cargo build --release
Reports the output binary path and file size

blixt generate

Generate scaffolding code. All generators validate the name argument against Rust reserved keywords and naming rules.

blixt generate controller

Generate a controller with Askama template views.

blixt generate controller <NAME>

Creates:

src/controllers/<name>.rs with index and show handler functions
templates/pages/<name>/index.html template
templates/pages/<name>/show.html template
Updates src/controllers/mod.rs to include the new module

After generation, the CLI prints a route hint showing how to wire the controller into your router.

Example:

blixt generate controller posts

blixt generate model

Generate a model with a database migration.

blixt generate model <NAME> [FIELDS...]

Fields use name:type format. Supported types:

Type	Aliases	Rust type	PostgreSQL	SQLite
`string`	`text`	`String`	`TEXT NOT NULL`	`TEXT NOT NULL`
`int`	`integer`	`i64`	`BIGINT NOT NULL DEFAULT 0`	`INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 0`
`bool`	`boolean`	`bool`	`BOOLEAN NOT NULL DEFAULT FALSE`	`BOOLEAN NOT NULL DEFAULT 0`
`float`		`f64`	`DOUBLE PRECISION NOT NULL DEFAULT 0`	`REAL NOT NULL DEFAULT 0`

Creates:

src/models/<name>.rs with a struct deriving FromRow and Serialize
A timestamped SQL migration file in migrations/
Updates src/models/mod.rs to include the new module

The id, created_at, and updated_at fields are generated automatically and cannot be specified manually. SQL reserved words and Rust keywords are rejected as field names.

Examples:

blixt generate model post title:string body:text published:bool
blixt generate model product name:string price:float active:boolean

blixt generate scaffold

Generate a full CRUD scaffold: controller, model, views, and list fragment.

blixt generate scaffold <NAME> [FIELDS...]

Combines controller and model generation, then adds a Datastar-ready list fragment template for streaming updates. Field syntax is the same as blixt generate model.

If no fields are specified, a single name:string field is created by default.

Examples:

blixt generate scaffold task title:string priority:int completed:bool
blixt generate scaffold item                        # defaults to name:string

blixt generate auth

Generate a complete authentication scaffold.

blixt generate auth

Creates:

migrations/*_create_users.sql with email, password_hash, role, reset token columns
migrations/*_create_sessions.sql with token_hash and expiry
src/models/user.rs with registration, login, password reset methods
src/models/session.rs with create, revoke, cleanup methods
src/controllers/auth.rs with 9 handlers (register, login, logout, forgot/reset password)
templates/pages/auth/ with register, login, forgot password, reset password pages
templates/emails/reset_password.html for password reset emails
Updates src/models/mod.rs and src/controllers/mod.rs

After generation, the CLI prints the routes to add to your src/main.rs.

Password reset emails are sent via the Mailer when SMTP is configured. Without SMTP variables, reset links are logged to stdout for local development.

Example:

blixt generate auth

blixt generate docker

Generate Docker deployment files.

blixt generate docker

Creates:

Dockerfile — multi-stage build with cargo-chef for dependency caching, Tailwind CSS compilation, and a minimal debian:bookworm-slim runtime image
docker-compose.yml — app service with health check, PostgreSQL 17, and optional Redis 7
.dockerignore — excludes target/, .git/, .env files (keeps .env.example)

The command auto-detects Redis usage from your Cargo.toml features or .env.example:

$ blixt generate docker

  detected PostgreSQL database
  detected Redis cache

  created Dockerfile
  created docker-compose.yml
  created .dockerignore

Fails if any of the files already exist — delete them first to regenerate.

blixt db

Database migration commands. All subcommands read DATABASE_URL from the environment (or .env file) and connect using SQLx's AnyPool, which supports both PostgreSQL and SQLite URLs.

blixt db migrate

Run all pending migrations.

blixt db migrate

Applies every unapplied migration from the ./migrations directory in order. Reports the number of migrations applied.

blixt db rollback

Revert the most recently applied migration.

blixt db rollback

Rolls back exactly one migration. Run multiple times to revert further.

blixt db status

Display a table of all migrations and their applied/pending status.

blixt db status

Output shows each migration's version number, status (applied or pending), and description.

Field type reference

When specifying fields for generate model and generate scaffold, use these types:

title:string      # or title:text
count:int         # or count:integer
active:bool       # or active:boolean
score:float

Validation rules:

Field names must be valid Rust identifiers in snake_case
Reserved names (id, created_at, updated_at) are rejected
SQL reserved words (select, order, table, index, etc.) are rejected
Rust keywords (type, fn, struct, etc.) are rejected
Duplicate field names within a single command are rejected