CLI

The Orionjs CLI is a command-line tool that helps you develop, build, and run Orionjs applications. Starting with v4.3, it defaults to Bun as the runtime.

Installation

The CLI is part of the @orion-js/core package.

bun add -D @orion-js/core

Available Commands

orion dev

Runs your Orionjs application in development mode with automatic restart on file changes.

bunx orion dev [options]

Options:

--node: Use Node.js instead of Bun
--repl: Enable REPL endpoint for orion repl (see below)
--no-typecheck: Disable continuous TypeScript diagnostics
--shell: Opens a shell in Chrome developer tools
--clean: Build the TypeScript project from scratch

What happens under the hood:

Runtime	Command executed
Bun (default)	Incremental esbuild bundle, then `bun --watch ./.orion/build/index.js`
Node (`--node`)	Incremental esbuild bundle, then `node ./.orion/build/index.js`

The development bundle rebuilds independently from TypeScript diagnostics so large projects restart as soon as runnable JavaScript is ready. TypeScript continues checking in parallel and stops an invalid application only after it has a real diagnostic; merely starting a check does not interrupt the server. Syntax and bundle errors stop the application immediately. Use --no-typecheck only when continuous diagnostics are not wanted, or run orion check for an additional one-off check.

orion prod

Starts an Orionjs application in production mode.

bunx orion prod [options]

Options:

--node: Use Node.js instead of Bun
--path [path]: Specify a pre-compiled build directory (Node.js only)

What happens under the hood:

Runtime	Command executed
Bun (default)	`bun ./app/index.ts` (runs TypeScript directly)
Node (`--node`)	Builds with esbuild, then runs `node --import=tsx ./build/index.js`

orion build

Compiles the application using esbuild for Node.js deployment.

bunx orion build

orion check

Runs TypeScript type checking without emitting files.

bunx orion check

orion info

Shows the available runtimes and the default runtime.

bunx orion info

orion repl

Evaluates a TypeScript expression against a running Orionjs dev server. Requires orion dev --repl to be running.

bunx orion repl -e "<expression>"

Options:

-e, --expression <expr>: (Required) The expression to evaluate
--port <port>: Port of the dev server (default: auto-detect from .orion/port)

Examples:

# Start dev server with REPL enabled
bunx orion dev --repl

# In another terminal:
bunx orion repl -e "return 1 + 1"

# Query a service
bunx orion repl -e "const {UserService} = await import('./app/services/UserService'); return await getInstance(UserService).getUserById('abc')"

See the REPL guide for more details.

orion create

Creates a new Orionjs project from the starter kit.

bunx orion create

Environment Variables Integration

Orionjs CLI automatically integrates with @orion-js/env. To use encrypted environment variables, set these two variables:

ORION_ENV_FILE_PATH=./config/env.yml
ORION_ENV_SECRET_KEY=your-decryption-password

See the Env documentation for details.

Requirements

Bun >= 1.0 (default runtime)
Node.js >= 22 (when using --node)
TypeScript

Get Started

Essentials

Controllers

Other Modules

Installation

Available Commands

orion dev

orion prod

orion build

orion check

orion info

orion repl

orion create

Environment Variables Integration

Requirements

​Installation

​Available Commands

​orion dev

​orion prod

​orion build

​orion check

​orion info

​orion repl

​orion create

​Environment Variables Integration

​Requirements

Installation

Available Commands

orion dev

orion prod

orion build

orion check

orion info

orion repl

orion create

Environment Variables Integration

Requirements