CLI

Nice Code is a lightweight Rust CLI exposed directly or through the Node-compatible launcher. Bun is only needed for repository development utilities, not for normal users. Human output is compact and styled only in an interactive terminal; agent and CI output remains deterministic and machine-friendly.

Install

Install the public launcher with Node.js 20 or newer:

npm install --global @sayanmohsin/nice-code
nice-code --help

The launcher downloads the verified Rust engine for the current platform. Bun, Cargo, and Rust are not required for normal users. Direct binaries are available from the latest GitHub Release.

Common commands

# Review changed and untracked files
nice-code --changed --project .

# Run a deliberate full scan
nice-code --all --project .

# Produce compact output for a coding agent
nice-code --changed --format agent --project .

# Run native project tools and emit SARIF for CI
nice-code --changed --ci --format sarif --project . > nice-code.sarif

# Inspect one check and write a baseline
nice-code --explain AP-LOG-001
nice-code --all --format json --write-baseline .nice-code-baseline.json
nice-code --changed --new-only --baseline .nice-code-baseline.json --format agent

# Inspect the curated agent-skill registry
nice-code skills list
nice-code skills show web-interface
nice-code skills check
nice-code skills outdated --project .
nice-code skills update --project .
nice-code skills update --project . --apply

# Discover or preview project guidance
nice-code advise --project .
nice-code advise --project . --format json
nice-code init --project .
nice-code init --project . --apply

# Create and validate project custom rules
nice-code rules init --project .
nice-code rules validate --project .
nice-code rules compile --project . --apply

Project-owned .nice-code/checks.json rules and Markdown rules are loaded automatically by the normal scan. Use nice-code rules validate before CI; rules compile --apply converts explicit Markdown checks into JSON and refuses to overwrite an existing JSON rule file. Maintainer-only knowledge commands belong to the Nice Code repository: npm run knowledge:check, npm run knowledge:outdated, and npm run knowledge:list. Consumer projects do not need to run them; see knowledge and project-owned rules.

For the complete option list and examples, run nice-code --help. Use nice-code --version to confirm the installed launcher version.

Java and Spring Boot projects are detected automatically. Use --ci to include the project's Maven or Gradle tests, with mvnw and gradlew preferred when present.

Output modes

• text is the compact human terminal view.
• json is the complete machine-readable report.
• agent is compact, stable, line-oriented output for coding agents.
• sarif is designed for GitHub code-scanning and CI integrations.

The default human view uses a small ◆ nice-code mark and status summary. Use --color or --no-color to override terminal detection. Styling is never added to JSON or SARIF output. Useful controls include --status FAIL,WARN, --include-review, --max-findings 20, --timings, and baseline filtering.

The CLI returns a non-zero exit code only when the report's exit decision is blocked. Unknown or invalid flags fail with a usage error.