CLI Commands¶

db-gen <command> [flags]

Commands¶

Command	Description
`generate`	Connect to the database (or load a routines file), read routine metadata, apply filters/mappings, and generate code. Prints schema changes since the last generation.
`routines [out]`	Read routines from the database and write their definitions to a JSON file (default `./db-gen-routines.json`, or the `out` argument) for offline generation.
`database-changes`	Compare the current database schema against the last generation and print what changed — without generating.
`validate`	Check configuration and templates without generating files. Validates settings, parses templates, and (when a database or routines file is available) renders each template against real routines. Exits non-zero on any error — for CI.
`llm`	Print a single self-contained plain-text reference (concepts, every command and flag, the full config-key reference, the template data model, and template functions) aimed at LLM/AI coding assistants. Also available as the global `--llm` flag.
`completion [bash\\|zsh\\|fish\\|powershell]`	Print a shell-completion script.
`version`	Print version and build information.
`help [command]`	Print help for a command.

Running db-gen with no arguments prints version/build information followed by the help output.

Flags¶

Available on the data commands (generate, routines, database-changes, validate):

Flag	Short	Description
`--config`	`-s`	Path to the configuration file. If omitted, default locations are tried.
`--connectionString`	`-c`	PostgreSQL connection string. Overrides the value in config.
`--debug`	`-d`	Print debug logs and write debug files.

Additional flags:

Flag	Commands	Description
`--useRoutinesFile`	`generate`, `database-changes`, `validate`	Read routines from `RoutinesFile` instead of connecting to the database.
`--offline`	`validate`	Restrict validation to settings + template parsing; skip the database connection and the render step.
`--llm`	root	Print the LLM/AI-assistant reference (same output as the `llm` command).

Examples¶

GenerateGenerate with inline connectionExport routinesCheck changesValidate (CI)LLM reference

db-gen generate --config db-gen.json

db-gen generate -s db-gen.json -c "postgresql://user:pass@host:5432/db"

db-gen routines --config db-gen.json
# or to a specific path:
db-gen routines ./snapshot/routines.json --config db-gen.json

db-gen database-changes --config db-gen.json

db-gen validate --config db-gen.json
# settings + template parsing only, no database:
db-gen validate --config db-gen.json --offline

db-gen llm        # or: db-gen --llm

Config file resolution¶

If --config is not given, db-gen tries, in order:

./db-gen.json
./db-gen/db-gen.json
./db-gen/config.json

Relative paths inside the config resolve against the config file's directory. See Configuration for local overrides.

How `generate` works¶

flowchart LR
    A[Load config + local override] --> B{Data source}
    B -->|Database| C[Connect to PostgreSQL]
    B -->|Offline| D[Load routines JSON]
    C --> E[Query information_schema]
    D --> E
    E --> F[Filter + map types]
    F --> G[Render templates]
    G --> H[Write output files]
    C --> I[Diff vs last generation] --> J[Print changes]