Base44 CLI

Overview

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Base44 CLI is a TypeScript-based command-line tool for developing applications with the Base44 managed backend. The Base44 backend provides entity data storage, serverless functions, authentication, and site hosting, while the CLI bridges your local development environment and the cloud. ## Core Uses - **Project creation**: Initialize new Base44 projects from templates, supporting headless (backend-only) or full-stack Vite + React modes. - **Resource sync**: Push locally defined entities, functions, agents, connectors, and other resources to the Base44 backend, or pull cloud configurations down to your machine. - **Site deployment**: Deploy built frontend files to the Base44 hosting platform. ## Key Capabilities The CLI offers commands covering the entire development lifecycle: - **Project management**: `create`, `link`, `eject`, and `deploy` for creating, linking, exporting, and deploying projects. - **Authentication**: `login`, `logout`, and `whoami` to manage login state. - **Resource operations**: Dedicated push/pull/deploy commands for agents, connectors, entities, and functions. - **Secrets management**: `secrets list`, `secrets set`, and `secrets delete` to manage project environment variables. - **Remote sandbox**: The `sandbox` subcommand lets you list directories, read/write files, run shell commands, search content, and create version checkpoints in a remote environment. - **Type generation**: `types generate` automatically generates TypeScript type definitions from your project resources. ## JSON Output & Automation All commands support the global `--json` flag. When enabled, stdout outputs only a single JSON document; interactive prompts and status messages are suppressed and sent to stderr, and errors are returned as structured JSON. This allows the CLI to work seamlessly with tools like `jq`, making it ideal for scripting and AI agent automation. ## AI Agent Support Creating a project automatically installs base44/skills, helping AI agents understand how to work with Base44 projects. You can also install them manually via `npx skills add base44/skills`. This tool requires Node.js 20.19.0 or later, is currently in beta, and is open-sourced under the MIT license.

Q&A

What are the prerequisites for installing Base44 CLI?AI-generated

Node.js 20.19.0 or later is required. Install globally via npm install -g base44, or run directly with npx base44 <command>.

How do I make the CLI output a machine-parseable format?AI-generated

Append the --json flag to any command. stdout will then emit a single JSON document, interactive prompts and status info go to stderr, and errors are returned as JSON—ready to be processed with jq.

What does the sandbox checkpoint command do?AI-generated

It saves a restore point in the builder's version history. Sandbox writes are committed but don't automatically create checkpoints, so if you run Restore or Revert in the builder, all changes made after the last checkpoint are discarded.

What stage is Base44 CLI currently in?AI-generated

Both the CLI and the Base44 backend service are currently in beta.

How do I install Base44 skills for an AI agent?AI-generated

They are installed automatically when you create a project. To install manually, run npx skills add base44/skills.