CLI Reference

Global flags

These flags can be used with any subcommand.

Flag	Short	Description
--interactive		Enable interactive TUI (default)
--no-interactive		Disable interactive prompts
--verbose	-v	Increase log verbosity. Repeat (-vv) for trace output
--silent	-s	Suppress all output except errors
--dry-run	-n	Preview changes without modifying files or running registry commands

--verbose and --silent are mutually exclusive.

cursus init

Initialise a new Cursus configuration using the interactive setup wizard.

cursus init

Creates .cursus/config.toml with your chosen package managers and settings. This command is interactive-only.

The wizard walks through:

1. Package managers: select Cargo, npm, or both (auto-detected from the repo root).
2. Manifest paths: enter a subdirectory for each manifest if not at the git root.
3. Git automation: enable, then choose push or branch strategy.
4. Forge: pick GitHub, GitLab, or Neither.
5. Forge configuration: for the chosen forge, edit auto-detected owner/repo (GitHub) or group/project (GitLab). The GitLab screen additionally surfaces a self-managed host field for non-gitlab.com instances.
6. Editor: optionally open the generated config in $EDITOR.

The generated config emits the chosen forge’s section as enabled = true and the other forge as a commented-out template, so switching forges later only requires uncommenting and editing.

cursus change

Record a change to the project. This is the default subcommand — running cursus with no subcommand is equivalent to cursus change.

cursus change [OPTIONS]

Flag	Short	Description
--change-type <TYPE>	-t	Change type: major, minor, or patch
--message <TEXT>	-m	Description of the change
--project <NAME>	-p	Package(s) to apply to. Repeatable. Defaults to git-changed projects, or all if none detected
--auto		Derive changeset from the most recent Conventional Commit
--no-git		Skip commit and push (requires --auto)

--auto is mutually exclusive with --change-type and --message.

Examples

# Very simple
cursus

# Interactive
cursus change

# Non-interactive, specific package
cursus change --no-interactive -t minor -m "Add retry logic" -p my-lib

# From Conventional Commit
cursus change --no-interactive --auto

cursus prepare

Prepare a release: aggregate changesets, bump versions, generate changelogs, and manage branches.

cursus prepare [OPTIONS]

Flag	Short	Description
--package <NAME>	-p	Package(s) to prepare. Repeatable. Defaults to all
--no-git		Skip git lifecycle automation
--branch <NAME>		Override release branch name (branch strategy only)

Examples

# Prepare all packages
cursus prepare --no-interactive

# Prepare specific packages
cursus prepare --no-interactive -p my-lib -p my-cli

# Preview without changes
cursus prepare --no-interactive --dry-run

cursus publish

Publish packages to their registries, create Git tags, and optionally create forge releases (GitHub or GitLab).

cursus publish [OPTIONS]

Flag	Short	Description
--package <NAME>	-p	Package(s) to publish. Repeatable. Defaults to all
--no-git		Skip Git tags, tag pushing, and forge releases

Examples

# Publish all packages
cursus publish --no-interactive

# Publish without Git operations
cursus publish --no-interactive --no-git

cursus ci

Auto-detect repository state and run prepare or publish as needed. Designed for CI pipelines.

This command is always non-interactive.

cursus ci [OPTIONS]

Flag	Short	Description
--package <NAME>	-p	Package(s) to operate on. Repeatable. Defaults to all
--branch <NAME>		Override release branch name
--no-git		Skip git and forge (GitHub/GitLab) operations

Detection logic:

1. If changeset files exist in .cursus/ → runs prepare
2. If no changesets but packages have versions without matching Git tags → runs publish
3. Otherwise → exits successfully (no-op)

cursus verify

Verify that the current branch adds at least one changeset compared to a base ref. Designed for CI to enforce changeset discipline on pull requests.

cursus verify [OPTIONS]

Flag	Description
--base <REF>	Base Git ref to compare against (default: origin/HEAD)

Exit codes:

Code	Meaning
0	Changeset(s) found
1	Error
2	No changesets found