CLI project generator

arqen new creates a complete starter application without adding optional development tools to the application's runtime dependency graph.

Quick start

arqen new hello-api
cd hello-api
cargo run

When run in a terminal, the generator asks whether to include:

• the HTTP server and an /api/hello route;
• embedded native Thingd storage;
• structured logging;
• starter module, tool, and job guidance;
• optional Nice Code documentation and GitHub Actions CI.

The default choices create an HTTP application with logging and memory storage. The generated app can run without Node.js or Nice Code.

Scripted generation

Use --yes to accept the defaults without prompts. Set the output directory independently from the Rust package name:

arqen new catalog-api --output ./services/catalog --yes

Optional capabilities can be selected or disabled explicitly:

arqen new catalog-api --yes --thingd --examples --nice-code
arqen new worker --yes --no-http --no-logging

The command refuses to overwrite an existing directory. Use --json when a script needs the generated file list and selected options as machine-readable output.

Generated layout

Every project includes:

Cargo.toml       # Current Arqen release and selected features
arqen.toml      # Memory or native storage configuration
.env.example     # Safe environment-variable template
AGENTS.md        # Portable project guidance
README.md        # Run, test, and extension instructions
rustfmt.toml
clippy.toml
src/main.rs

HTTP projects also include src/app/mod.rs with an AppModule and the /api/hello starter route. With --examples, the project includes guidance for arqen generate module, arqen generate tool, and arqen generate job.

Native Thingd

Selecting --thingd adds Arqen's thingd-native feature and configures a local .data/thingd directory. Review recovery, backup, resource, and schema requirements before using native storage in production. See Thingd integration.

Optional Nice Code

Selecting --nice-code adds NICE_CODE.md and .github/workflows/nice-code.yml. The generated workflow runs:

npx --yes @sayanmohsin/nice-code@0.3.2 --ci --project . --format sarif

Nice Code is not added to Cargo.toml, is not required to run the app, and can be removed without changing Arqen behavior. See Tooling for repository and consumer usage.

Extending the project

The individual generators remain available after project creation:

arqen generate module users
arqen generate tool get_user
arqen generate job send_email

Read Commands for the complete CLI reference.