Watt CLI Commands

Watt provides two main CLI tools for different purposes:

• wattpm - Primary command for creating, managing, and running Watt applications
• platformatic - Legacy command with additional utilities and backwards compatibility

Installation

Install Watt globally for the best development experience:

npm install -g wattpm

Or install as a project dependency:

npm install wattpm
# then run with npx
npx wattpm --help

Global Options

These options are available for all wattpm commands:

• -r, --no-pretty - Disable pretty-printed output for logs and console messages
• -v, --verbose - Enable verbose output for detailed information
• -V, --version - Display the current wattpm version
• -h, --help - Show help information

Core Watt Commands (wattpm)

These are the primary commands for working with Watt applications:

wattpm create or wattpm init

Creates a new Watt application with interactive setup using wattpm-utils.

wattpm create my-app
wattpm init  # creates in current directory

Options:

• -l, --latest - Use the latest version of watt-utils
• -c, --config <name> - Configuration file name (default: watt.json)
• -s, --skip-dependencies - Don't install dependencies after creating files
• -P, --package-manager <manager> - Use specific package manager (npm, yarn, pnpm)
• -M, --module <name> - Additional application generator modules (can be used multiple times)

Example:

wattpm create my-api
wattpm init --skip-dependencies --package-manager pnpm

wattpm dev

Starts your Watt application in development mode with hot reloading.

You can also trigger manual reloading by typing rs followed by a carriage return.

wattpm dev [directory]

Options:

• -c, --config <path> - Path to configuration file (auto-detected by default)

Example:

wattpm dev
wattpm dev ./my-app --config custom-watt.json

wattpm start

Starts your Watt application in production mode.

wattpm start [directory]

Options:

• -c, --config <path> - Path to configuration file (auto-detected by default)
• -i, --inspect - Start Node.js inspector for debugging

Example:

wattpm start
wattpm start ./dist --inspect

wattpm build

Builds all applications in your Watt application for production.

wattpm build [directory]

Options:

• -c, --config <path> - Path to configuration file (auto-detected by default)

Example:

wattpm build
wattpm build ./src --config watt.production.json

wattpm install

Installs dependencies for the application and all its applications.

wattpm install [directory]

Options:

• -c, --config <path> - Path to configuration file
• -p, --production - Install only production dependencies
• -P, --package-manager <manager> - Use specific package manager

Example:

wattpm install --production
wattpm install --package-manager yarn

wattpm update

Updates all Platformatic packages to their latest compatible versions.

wattpm update [directory]

Options:

• -c, --config <path> - Path to configuration file
• -f, --force - Force updates even if they violate package.json version ranges

Example:

wattpm update
wattpm update --force

Application Management Commands

These commands help you manage running Watt applications:

wattpm ps

Lists all currently running Watt applications.

wattpm ps

wattpm stop

Stops a running Watt application.

wattpm stop [id]

Arguments:

• id - Process ID or application name (optional if only one app is running)

wattpm restart

Restarts all applications in a running application (picks up application changes, not main config).

wattpm restart [id] [application...]

Arguments:

• id - Process ID or application name (optional if only one app is running)
• application - Name of the application to restart (if omitted, all applications are restarted).

wattpm reload

Reloads a running application completely (picks up all changes including main config).

wattpm reload [id]

Arguments:

• id - Process ID or application name (optional if only one app is running)

Application Management Commands

wattpm applications

Lists all applications in a running application.

wattpm applications [id]

Arguments:

• id - Process ID or application name (optional if only one app is running)

wattpm applications:add

Adds new applications to a running application from a configuration file.

wattpm applications:add [id] path1 [path2] [...]

Arguments:

• id - Process ID or application name (optional if only one app is running)
• paths - A folder containing an application or a JSON file containing the applications to add

Options:

• -s, --save - Save the added applications to the application configuration file

Note: If the paths argument is a path to a JSON file, it should be an array. The contents follow the same format of the application property.

wattpm applications:remove

Removes applications from a running application.

wattpm applications:remove [id] application1 [application2] [...]

Arguments:

• id - Process ID or application name (optional if only one app is running)
• applications - List of application IDs to remove

Options:

• -s, --save - Remove the applications from the application configuration file

Example:

wattpm applications:remove my-app api-app database-app --save

wattpm import

Imports an external application into your Watt application.

wattpm import [directory] [url]

Arguments:

• directory - Application directory (default: current directory)
• url - URL or GitHub repository to import. Supports multiple formats:
  • GitHub shorthand: user/repo
  • Git URL: https://github.com/user/repo.git
  • Git URL with branch fragment: https://github.com/user/repo.git#branch-name

Options:

• -c, --config <path> - Configuration file path
• -i, --id <name> - Service ID (default: repository basename)
• -p, --path <path> - Local path for the application (default: application ID)
• -H, --http - Use HTTP instead of SSH for GitHub URLs
• -b, --branch <name> - Branch to clone (overrides URL fragment, default: main)
• -s, --skip-dependencies - Don't install application dependencies
• -P, --package-manager <manager> - Package manager to use

Branch Specification:

You can specify a branch in two ways during import:

1. URL Fragment: Append #branch-name to the git URL
2. Flag: Use the -b/--branch flag (takes precedence over URL fragment)

Note: When manually editing the configuration file to add applications with URLs, you must use the URL fragment syntax (url#branch) to specify a branch, as the -b flag is only available during the import command.

Examples:

# Import using GitHub shorthand
wattpm import platformatic/hello-world

# Import with explicit ID
wattpm import https://github.com/user/my-application.git --id my-application

# Import specific branch using URL fragment
wattpm import https://github.com/user/repo.git#develop

# Import specific branch using flag
wattpm import --http --branch develop user/repo

# Flag overrides URL fragment (will clone 'main' branch)
wattpm import https://github.com/user/repo.git#develop -b main

wattpm-utils resolve

Downloads and resolves all external applications defined in your configuration.

wattpm-utils resolve [directory]

Options:

• -c, --config <path> - Configuration file path
• -u, --username <name> - Username for private repositories
• -p, --password <token> - Password/token for private repositories
• -s, --skip-dependencies - Don't install application dependencies
• -P, --package-manager <manager> - Package manager to use

Branch Specification in Configuration:

When manually editing your configuration file to add applications with git URLs, specify branches using the URL fragment syntax (url#branch):

{
  "web": [
    {
      "id": "my-app",
      "url": "https://github.com/user/repo.git#develop"
    }
  ]
}

Example:

wattpm-utils resolve --username myuser --password $GITHUB_TOKEN

Debugging and Inspection Commands

wattpm logs

Streams logs from a running application or specific application.

wattpm logs [id] [application]

Arguments:

• id - Process ID or application name (optional if only one app is running)
• application - Specific application name (optional, streams from all applications if omitted)

Example:

wattpm logs
wattpm logs my-app api-application

wattpm inject

Injects HTTP requests into a running application for testing.

wattpm inject [id] [application]

Arguments:

• id - Process ID or application name (optional if only one app is running)
• application - Application name (optional, uses entrypoint if omitted)

Options:

• -m, --method <verb> - HTTP method (default: GET)
• -p, --path <path> - Request path (default: /)
• -H, --header <header> - Request headers (can be used multiple times)
• -d, --data <body> - Request body data
• -D, --data-file <file> - Read request body from file
• -o, --output <file> - Write response to file
• -f, --full-output - Include response headers in output

Examples:

wattpm inject --path /api/health
wattpm inject --method POST --header "Content-Type: application/json" --data '{"name": "test"}'
wattpm inject my-app api-application --path /users --output response.json

wattpm env

Displays environment variables for a running application or application.

wattpm env [id] [application]

Arguments:

• id - Process ID or application name (optional if only one app is running)
• application - Application name (optional, shows app-level env if omitted)

Options:

• -t, --table - Display variables in table format

Example:

wattpm env --table
wattpm env my-app database-application

wattpm config

Displays configuration for a running application or application.

wattpm config [id] [application]

Arguments:

• id - Process ID or application name (optional if only one app is running)
• application - Application name (optional, shows app config if omitted)

Example:

wattpm config
wattpm config my-app api-application

Performance Profiling Commands

wattpm pprof start

Starts CPU profiling for applications in a running application.

wattpm pprof start [id] [application]

Arguments:

• id - Process ID or application name (optional if only one app is running)
• application - Application name (optional, profiles all applications if omitted)

Example:

wattpm pprof start                      # Start profiling all applications (auto-detect runtime)
wattpm pprof start api-application          # Start profiling specific application (auto-detect runtime)
wattpm pprof start my-app               # Start profiling all applications in specific app
wattpm pprof start my-app api-application   # Start profiling specific application in specific app
wattpm pprof start 12345 api-application    # Start profiling specific application using PID

wattpm pprof stop

Stops CPU profiling and saves profile data as pprof-{application}-{timestamp}.pb files.

wattpm pprof stop [id] [application]

Arguments:

• id - Process ID or application name (optional if only one app is running)
• application - Application name (optional, stops profiling all applications if omitted)

Example:

wattpm pprof stop                      # Stop profiling all applications (auto-detect runtime)
wattpm pprof stop api-application          # Stop profiling specific application (auto-detect runtime)
wattpm pprof stop my-app               # Stop profiling all applications in specific app
wattpm pprof stop my-app api-application   # Stop profiling specific application in specific app
wattpm pprof stop 12345 api-application    # Stop profiling specific application using PID

Advanced Commands

wattpm patch-config

Applies configuration patches using JavaScript files.

wattpm patch-config [directory] <patch-file>

Arguments:

• directory - Application directory (default: current directory)
• patch-file - JavaScript file that exports a patch function

Options:

• -c, --config <path> - Configuration file path

Patch file format:

// patch.js
export default function  (runtime, applications) {
  return {
    runtime: [
      /* JSON Patch operations for runtime config */
    ],
    applications: [
      /* JSON Patch operations for application configs */
    ]
  }
}

Example:

wattpm patch-config ./patches/production.js

wattpm admin

Starts the Watt administration web interface.

wattpm admin [latest]

Options:

• -l, --latest - Use the latest version of watt-admin
• -P, --package-manager <manager> - Package manager for installing watt-admin

Example:

wattpm admin latest

Utility Commands

wattpm help

Displays help information.

wattpm help [command]

Arguments:

• command - Show help for a specific command

Example:

wattpm help
wattpm help create

wattpm version

Displays the current Watt version.

wattpm version

Configuration Files

Watt automatically detects configuration files in this order:

1. watt.json / watt.json5
2. platformatic.json / platformatic.json5
3. platformatic.yml / platformatic.yaml
4. platformatic.tml / platformatic.toml

For more details, see Configuration File Formats.

Common Workflows

Creating a New Application

# Create a new Watt app
wattpm create my-app
cd my-app

# Start in development mode
wattpm dev

# In another terminal, test it
wattpm inject --path /api/health

Adding an External Service

# Import an application from GitHub
wattpm import platformatic/example-application

# Resolve all external applications
wattpm-utils resolve

# Restart to pick up changes
wattpm restart

Production Deployment

# Build the application
wattpm build

# Start in production mode
wattpm start

# Monitor logs
wattpm logs

Issues

If you run into a bug or have a suggestion for improvement, please raise an issue on GitHub or join our Discord feedback channel.