CLI

CLI reference

The pkgist binary auto-discovers a config file in the current working directory unless --config is passed. It tries pkgist.config.ts, pkgist.config.js, builder.ts, builder.js, mongez.ts, mongez.js in that order — see the configuration skill for the full discovery rule.

Commands

build [pkg...]

Build one or more standalone packages by name.

pkgist build @my-scope/utils
pkgist build @my-scope/utils @my-scope/cache @my-scope/events
pkgist build --all                    # all standalone (alias for `build:all` without families)

Family packages can’t be targeted with build — use build:family for those.

build:family <name>

Build every package in a family with a single shared version.

pkgist build:family atom
pkgist build:family localization

The <name> matches the name field on the family object. If you don’t remember the family names, run pkgist list to see them.

build:all

Build every standalone package and every family registered in the config.

pkgist build:all

Use for fleet-wide releases (LICENSE additions, dep updates, etc.). For incremental releases, prefer targeted build / build:family to avoid no-op version bumps on unchanged packages.

list

Show every registered package and family with current version + type + format info.

pkgist list

Output:

=== Standalone Packages ===
  @my-scope/utils v2.1.0 [typescript] [esm, cjs]
    root: /path/to/utils
  @my-scope/cache v1.3.0 [typescript] [esm, cjs]
    root: /path/to/cache

=== Families ===
  Family: state
    @my-scope/atom       v6.0.7 [typescript] [esm, cjs]
    @my-scope/react-atom v6.0.7 [react]      [esm, cjs]

Use it for quick sanity checks — “what versions are currently on disk” before kicking off a release.

validate

Verify the config parses correctly and every root path exists on disk.

pkgist validate

Catches typos in package roots, missing directories, malformed config. Cheap to run as a pre-commit hook or CI step.

Common flags

Available on every build* command:

Flag	Description
--dry-run	Print every step (snapshot, compile, clone, git, npm publish) without writing to disk, git, or npm. Always run this before a real release to verify versions, commit messages, and clone lists
--no-publish	Run everything except npm publish. Useful when you want to build + commit locally but defer publish
--no-git	Skip git add/commit/push/tag entirely, regardless of per-package commit
--concurrency <n>	Override settings.concurrency. Drop to 1 to serialize builds for debugging
--config <path>	Use a specific config file instead of auto-discovery. Path is relative to cwd
--verbose	Print debug-level log lines (every step, including ones normally silent on success)

Typical invocations

Scenario	Command
Sanity-check config before any release	pkgist validate
Inventory current versions	pkgist list
Preview a release	pkgist build:all --dry-run
Real release of everything	pkgist build:all
Hot-fix one package	pkgist build @scope/the-pkg
Release a synchronized group	pkgist build:family atom
Build to verify, but don’t ship	pkgist build:all --no-publish --no-git
Debug a failing build	pkgist build @scope/the-pkg --verbose --concurrency 1

Exit codes

• 0 — all targeted builds succeeded (including publishes if not --no-publish)
• non-zero — at least one package failed; the failing package(s) are logged with their wrapped error

Builds run in parallel, so a failure in one package doesn’t stop others. The final summary shows the count.

pkgist help

pkgist --help
pkgist build --help

The CLI is built on commander — every command supports --help for its own flags.