@openuidev/cli

A command-line tool for scaffolding OpenUI chat apps and generating system prompts or JSON schemas from library definitions.

Installation

# Run without installing
npx @openuidev/cli@latest <command>

# Or install globally
npm install -g @openuidev/cli
pnpm add -g @openuidev/cli
yarn global add @openuidev/cli
bun add -g @openuidev/cli

openui create

Scaffolds a new Next.js app pre-configured with OpenUI Chat.

openui create [options]

Options

When run interactively (default), the CLI prompts for any missing options. Pass --no-interactive in CI or scripted environments to surface missing required flags as errors instead.

What it does

1. Copies the bundled openui-chat Next.js template into <name>/
2. Rewrites workspace:* dependency versions to latest
3. Auto-detects your package manager (npm, pnpm, yarn, bun)
4. Installs dependencies

The generated project includes a generate:prompt script that runs openui generate as part of dev and build.

Examples

# Interactive — prompts for project name
openui create

# Non-interactive
openui create --name my-app
openui create --no-interactive --name my-app

openui generate

Generates a system prompt or JSON schema from a file that exports a createLibrary() result.

openui generate [entry] [options]

Arguments

Options

Examples

# Print system prompt to stdout
openui generate ./src/library.ts

# Write system prompt to a file
openui generate ./src/library.ts --out ./src/generated/system-prompt.txt

# Output JSON schema instead
openui generate ./src/library.ts --json-schema

# Explicit export names
openui generate ./src/library.ts --export myLibrary --prompt-options myOptions

Export auto-detection

The CLI bundles the entry file with esbuild before evaluating it. CSS, SVG, image, and font imports are stubbed automatically.

If --export is not provided, the CLI searches the module's exports in this order:

1. An export named library
2. The default export
3. Any export whose value has both a .prompt() method and a .toJSONSchema() method

If --prompt-options is not provided, the CLI looks for:

1. An export named promptOptions
2. An export named options
3. Any export whose name ends with PromptOptions (case-insensitive)

A valid PromptOptions value has at least one of: examples (string array), additionalRules (string array), or preamble (string).

PromptOptions type

interface PromptOptions {
  preamble?: string;
  additionalRules?: string[];
  examples?: string[];
}

Pass this as a named export alongside your library to customise the generated system prompt without hard-coding it into createLibrary.

// src/library.ts
import { createLibrary } from "@openuidev/react-lang";
import type { PromptOptions } from "@openuidev/react-lang";

export const library = createLibrary({ components: [...] });

export const promptOptions: PromptOptions = {
  preamble: "You are a dashboard builder...",
  additionalRules: ["Always use compact variants for table cells."],
};

openui generate ./src/library.ts --out src/generated/system-prompt.txt

See also