Command Line Interface (CLI)

The Motia CLI handles project scaffolding and deployment. It is installed with the motia package.

During development, npm run dev starts the iii runtime which orchestrates building and running your Motia application. The commands below are either run directly by you or internally by iii's Shell Exec module.

Project Creation

`npx motia@latest create`

Scaffold a new Motia project.

npx motia@latest create [project-name] [options]

Arguments:

[project-name] (optional): The name for your project folder. Use . or ./ for the current directory.

Options:

--template <template-name> (optional): Template to use. If not provided, you'll be prompted interactively.

Available Templates:

Template	Description	Use Case
`motia-tutorial-typescript`	Tutorial (TypeScript only)	Interactive tutorial project in TypeScript
`motia-tutorial-python`	Tutorial (Python only)	Interactive tutorial project in Python
`starter-multilang`	Starter (All languages; TS/JS + Python)	Polyglot project with TypeScript API, Python event processing, and JavaScript logging
`starter-typescript`	Starter (TypeScript only)	Minimal TypeScript project with basic examples
`starter-javascript`	Starter (JavaScript only)	Minimal JavaScript project with basic examples
`starter-python`	Starter (Python only)	Minimal Python project with basic examples

Examples:

npx motia@latest create my-app --template starter-typescript
npx motia@latest create my-tutorial --template motia-tutorial-python
npx motia@latest create

Build

`motia build`

Build your project, compiling all Steps and generating deployment artifacts.

npx motia build

During development, iii's Shell Exec module runs this automatically when your Step files change. You typically only run this manually for deployment.

Deployment

`motia cloud deploy`

Deploy to Motia Cloud.

npx motia cloud deploy --api-key <api-key> --version-name <version> [options]

Options:

-k, --api-key <key> (required): Your API key for authentication
-v, --version-name <version> (required): The version to deploy
-n, --project-name <name>: Project name (used when creating a new project)
-s, --environment-id <id>: Environment ID (can also be set via MOTIA_ENVIRONMENT_ID env var)
--environment-name <name>: Environment name (used when creating a new environment)
-d, --version-description <description>: The description of the version
-e, --env-file <path>: Path to environment file

Docker

Tools for containerizing your Motia project.

npx motia docker setup       # Generate Dockerfile and .dockerignore
npx motia docker build        # Build Docker image
npx motia docker run          # Build and run in a container

Utility Commands

`motia generate step`

Create a new Step with interactive prompts.

npx motia generate step [--dir <path>]

`motia enqueue`

Manually enqueue a message for testing.

npx motia enqueue --topic user.created --message '{"userId":"123"}'

`motia state list`

List current file state.

npx motia state list

Next Steps

Explore the Core Concepts to learn more about Steps, Flows, and Topics.
Check out the Examples for common patterns and use cases.

Command Line Interface (CLI)

On this page