CLI Reference

The Krema CLI provides commands for creating, developing, building, and bundling applications.

Global Options

krema [command] [options]

Options:
  -h, --help      Show help
  -V, --version   Show version

Commands

krema init

Create a new Krema project.

krema init <name> [options]

Arguments:

Argument	Description
name	Project name

Options:

Option	Description	Default
-t, --template <template>	Project template	vanilla
-f, --force	Overwrite existing directory	false
--wizard	Interactive wizard with full configuration	-
--ci	Non-interactive mode for CI pipelines	-

Templates:

• vanilla - Plain HTML/CSS/JS with Vite
• react - React 18 with Vite
• vue - Vue 3 with Vite
• svelte - Svelte 5 with Vite
• angular - Angular 18

Examples:

# Create a React project
krema init my-app --template react

# Full interactive wizard (configure plugins, window settings, etc.)
krema init --wizard

# CI mode (no prompts)
krema init my-app --ci -t react

---

krema dev

Start development mode with hot reload.

krema dev [options]

Options:

Option	Description	Default
--env <name>	Environment profile	development
--no-open	Don't open the window automatically	-
--port <port>	Override frontend dev server port	-

What it does:

1. Starts the frontend dev server (npm/pnpm/yarn)
2. Waits for the dev server to be ready
3. Launches the native window pointing to the dev server
4. Watches for Java source changes and reloads

Example:

krema dev
krema dev --env staging
krema dev --port 3000

---

krema build

Build the application for production.

krema build [options]

Options:

Option	Description	Default
--env <name>	Environment profile	production
--native	Build native image with GraalVM	-
--skip-frontend	Skip frontend build	-

What it does:

1. Runs the frontend build command (npm run build)
2. Compiles Java sources
3. Copies web assets to resources
4. Creates an executable JAR (or native binary with --native)

With --native, the CLI additionally generates a GraalVM resource config, invokes native-image, and copies the native webview library alongside the binary. See the Native Image guide for details.

Example:

krema build
krema build --env production
krema build --native
krema build --native --skip-frontend

---

krema bundle

Create platform-specific application bundles.

krema bundle [options]

Options:

Option	Description	Default
--type <type>	Bundle type	Platform default
--sign	Sign the bundle	-
--notarize	Notarize (macOS only, implies --sign)	-
--env <name>	Environment profile	production

Bundle types:

Platform	Types	Default
macOS	app, dmg	dmg
Windows	exe, msi	exe
Linux	appimage, deb, rpm	appimage

Example:

# macOS
krema bundle --type dmg
krema bundle --type dmg --sign
krema bundle --type dmg --notarize

# Windows
krema bundle --type exe
krema bundle --type exe --sign

# Linux
krema bundle --type appimage
krema bundle --type deb

---

krema signer

Manage Ed25519 signing keys for auto-updates.

krema signer generate

Generate a new keypair.

krema signer generate [options]

Options:

Option	Description	Default
-o, --output <path>	Private key output path	krema-private.key

Example:

krema signer generate
krema signer generate --output /secure/path/key.pem

Output:

[Krema Signer] Ed25519 keypair generated successfully!

Private key written to: ./krema-private.key

Add this to your krema.toml:

[updater]
pubkey = "MCowBQYDK2VwAyEA..."

krema signer sign

Sign a file.

krema signer sign <file> [options]

Options:

Option	Description	Default
-k, --key <path>	Private key file	Uses KREMA_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY env

Example:

krema signer sign target/bundle/MyApp.dmg --key krema-private.key

# Using environment variable
export KREMA_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY="$(cat krema-private.key)"
krema signer sign target/bundle/MyApp.dmg

Creates a .sig file alongside the original (e.g., MyApp.dmg.sig).

---

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
KREMA_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY	Ed25519 private key for update signing
KREMA_APPLE_PASSWORD	Apple app-specific password for notarization
KREMA_CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD	Windows certificate password
GRAALVM_HOME	GraalVM installation path for native builds
JAVA_HOME	Java installation path (also checked for native-image)

---

Configuration File

The CLI reads configuration from krema.toml in the project root.

[package]
name = "my-app"
version = "1.0.0"
identifier = "com.example.myapp"

[window]
title = "My App"
width = 1200
height = 800

[build]
frontend_command = "npm run build"
frontend_dev_command = "npm run dev"
frontend_dev_url = "http://localhost:5173"
out_dir = "dist"

[bundle]
icon = "icons/icon.icns"

[bundle.macos]
signing_identity = "Developer ID Application: ..."
notarization_apple_id = "[email protected]"
notarization_team_id = "TEAMID"

[bundle.windows]
certificate_path = "path/to/certificate.pfx"

[permissions]
allow = ["fs:read", "clipboard:read", "notification"]

[updater]
pubkey = "MCowBQYDK2VwAyEA..."
endpoints = ["https://releases.example.com/{{target}}/{{current_version}}"]

[env.development]
[env.development.window]
title = "My App (Dev)"

[env.production]
[env.production.build]
frontend_command = "npm run build:prod"

---

Exit Codes

Code	Description
0	Success
1	General error
2	Configuration error
3	Build error
4	Bundle error
5	Signing error