---
title: CLI
description: Validate schemas, preview changes, and manage migrations
icon: terminal
---

Run the installed CLI with `pnpm exec viborm` or `npx viborm`. Node 22 or newer
is required. TypeScript configuration loading is bundled; no separate loader
or Bun runtime is needed. The CLI loads `.env` from the working directory and
then discovers `viborm.config.ts` (also `.mts`, `.js`, or `.mjs`). See
[configuration](/docs/getting-started/configuration).

| Command | Purpose |
| --- | --- |
| `viborm check` | Validate the configured schema, including advisory checks |
| `viborm push --dry-run` | Preview direct synchronization without applying it |
| `viborm push --yes` | Apply a non-destructive synchronization without a prompt |
| `viborm migrate generate --name change` | Generate the next migration state |
| `viborm migrate check` | Validate migration artifacts without querying the database |
| `viborm migrate list` / `show <state>` / `graph` | Inspect recorded states and paths |
| `viborm migrate status` | Inspect the live marker and unfinished work |
| `viborm migrate verify` | Compare the live schema with its recorded state under a lock |
| `viborm migrate apply --dry-run` | Preview the migration path |
| `viborm migrate apply` | Apply pending migration states |
| `viborm migrate down --dry-run` | Preview rollback along the recorded arrival path |
| `viborm migrate baseline --to <state>` | Adopt an existing database only after exact schema verification |
| `viborm migrate resolve` | Resolve unfinished work after proving its live state |

Use `--help` on a command for all options. `--config <path>` selects a config;
for migration commands put it on `migrate`, before the subcommand. Migration
commands accept `--dir <path>` to select their artifact directory. Inspection
and execution commands expose `--json` for machine-readable output.

`--yes` does not authorize destructive changes. Review `push --dry-run`, then
supply `--accept-data-loss` only for a plan you intend to apply. A non-interactive
invocation requiring confirmation fails with actionable guidance. `--force-reset`
requests a destructive rebuild and is not a remedy for an unexplained failure.

Failures produce a nonzero exit code. JSON mode writes structured errors;
cleanup finishes before the process reports success or failure. Provider SQL
messages and values follow the same disclosure rules as application errors.

See [push](/docs/migration/push) and [migrations](/docs/migration/migrate) for the
state, rollback, and interrupted-operation contracts. No CLI command replaces
review of a destructive plan or an independently verified backup.