CLI Reference

ratchet <command>

ratchet init

Scaffolds a new project in the current directory: package.json, tsconfig.json, ratchet.config.ts, models/example.model.ts, migrations/, and a .gitignore. Never overwrites a file that already exists — safe to re-run.

ratchet generate

Reads models/**/*.model.ts and emits, into generatedDir (.ratchet/ by default):

• schema.ts — the Drizzle schema
• validators.ts — Zod validators
• registry.ts — the model registry ratchet serve and ratchet build read from
• console-forms.ts — the custom console form registry, one entry per models/**/*.form.tsx
• console-field-inputs.ts — the custom field input registry, one entry per models/**/*.input.tsx

It then runs drizzle-kit generate to diff the fresh schema against migrationsDir (migrations/ by default) and write any new SQL migration files. Review those files, then apply them with ratchet migrate.

Run this any time your models change and you're not using ratchet dev.

ratchet migrate

Runs drizzle-kit migrate against migrationsDir (migrations/ by default), applying and tracking any pending SQL migration files. It does not touch your models or the schema — run ratchet generate first to produce the migration files. Use this for a durable, versioned migration history — the workflow you want outside of local development.

ratchet dev

Watches models/**/*.model.ts. On every change: regenerates, runs drizzle-kit push (pushes schema changes directly, no migration files), and restarts the dev server. Faster iteration loop than migrate, intended for local development only.

ratchet serve

Boots the API server: reads ratchet.config.ts and the generated registry, and starts a listening server with the console (/console by default — see consolePath), /api/auth/*, and /api/:model mounted. No server entry file needed.

PORT=3000 DATABASE_URL=postgres://... ratchet serve

ratchet build

Builds the console client (Bun's bundler + Tailwind, hashed assets + manifest) and a bundled server artifact, for deploying without dev tooling at runtime.

ratchet studio

Proxies to drizzle-kit studio, for browsing/editing your Postgres database directly.