CLI¶

The Limen CLI is a development tool for generating Go model structs and SQL migration files from your configured Limen schemas.

You do not need the CLI at runtime in production.

Install¶

go install github.com/ragokan/limen/cmd/limen@latest

Or build it from this repository:

cd cmd/limen
go build -o limen

Enable Schema Export¶

Add CLI support to your Limen config:

auth, err := limen.New(&limen.Config{
    Database: adapter,
    CLI:      &limen.CLIConfig{Enabled: true},
    Plugins: []limen.Plugin{
        credentialpassword.New(),
    },
})

Run your app once. Limen writes the discovered schema data to .limen/schemas.json.

Command Shape¶

limen [global-flags] generate <subcommand> [flags]

Global flag:

• --schemas, -s: path to the schema file, defaulting to ./.limen/schemas.json

Generate Models¶

Generate Go structs for the tables used by your Limen configuration:

limen generate models

Useful flags:

• --output, -o: output directory, defaulting to ./models
• --package, -p: generated package name

Examples:

limen generate models -o ./internal/models
limen generate models -o ./internal/models -p authmodels
limen -s ./config/limen-schemas.json generate models

Generate Migrations¶

Generate SQL migration files by comparing .limen/schemas.json with your database:

limen generate migrations \
  --driver postgres \
  --dsn "postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/mydb?sslmode=disable" \
  --output ./migrations

Useful flags:

• --driver, -d: database driver, currently postgres or mysql
• --dsn, -c: database connection string
• --output, -o: output directory, defaulting to ./migrations

For MySQL:

limen generate migrations \
  --driver mysql \
  --dsn "user:pass@tcp(localhost:3306)/mydb" \
  --output ./migrations

Each schema change is generated as an .up.sql and .down.sql pair. The CLI does not apply migrations; use golang-migrate, goose, or your deployment tooling.

Recommended Workflow¶

1. Configure Limen with the adapters, plugins, and schema options your app uses.
2. Enable CLIConfig locally.
3. Run the app once to refresh .limen/schemas.json.
4. Generate models if your app wants typed structs.
5. Generate migrations for the target database.
6. Apply migrations with your migration tool.
7. Disable CLI export in production if you do not need schema files there.

Troubleshooting¶

If the CLI cannot find schemas, run the app once with CLIConfig enabled or pass --schemas to the file you want to use.

If no migrations are generated, the database may already match the schema file. Refresh .limen/schemas.json after changing plugins or schema config.

If migration generation fails with an unknown driver, use postgres or mysql.