AzuAuthorityAzu CLICQLSession

Introduction

Welcome to the comprehensive documentation for Azu CLI - the command-line interface for the Azu Toolkit ecosystem.

What is Azu CLI?

Azu CLI is a powerful, developer-friendly command-line tool designed to accelerate development with the Azu Toolkit framework. It provides scaffolding, code generation, development server capabilities, and database management tools to help you build high-performance, type-safe Crystal applications quickly and efficiently.

🚀 Key Features

Project Scaffolding

  • Create new Azu projects with a single command

  • Initialize Azu in existing Crystal projects

  • Multiple project templates (web, API, CLI)

  • Interactive project setup wizard

Code Generation

  • Generate endpoints (controllers) with full CRUD operations

  • Create CQL ORM models with attributes

  • Build services following DDD patterns

  • Generate middleware components

  • Create request/response contracts

  • Build page components and templates

  • Generate real-time live components

  • Create custom validators

  • Database migration generation

  • Complete resource scaffolding

Development Tools

  • Hot-reloading development server

  • File system watching and auto-compilation

  • Database management commands

  • Interactive console (REPL)

  • Testing framework integration

  • Real-time error reporting

Framework Integration

  • Azu Web Framework: High-performance, type-safe web framework

  • CQL ORM: Crystal Query Language Object-Relational Mapping

  • Topia CLI: Powerful command-line parsing framework

🎯 Who Is This For?

  • Crystal Developers building web applications with Azu

  • Backend Developers creating APIs and microservices

  • Full-Stack Developers building real-time applications

  • DevOps Engineers deploying Crystal applications

  • Teams looking for consistent development workflows

🛠️ What You Can Build

  • Web Applications: Full-featured web apps with real-time capabilities

  • REST APIs: Type-safe, high-performance API services

  • Real-time Applications: WebSocket-powered live applications

  • Microservices: Distributed service architectures

  • CLI Tools: Command-line applications using Crystal

  • Background Jobs: Asynchronous job processing systems

📋 Prerequisites

Before using Azu CLI, ensure you have:

  • Crystal: Version 1.6.0 or higher

  • Database: PostgreSQL, MySQL, or SQLite

  • Git: For version control and project management

  • Node.js: (Optional) For frontend asset management

🚦 Getting Started

  1. Install Azu CLI - Installation instructions for all platforms

  2. Quick Start Guide - Create your first Azu application in minutes

  3. Project Structure - Understand how Azu projects are organized

📚 Documentation Sections

🔧 Command Reference

Comprehensive guide to all CLI commands, their options, and usage examples.

🏗️ Generators

Detailed documentation for all code generators including templates, customization, and best practices.

🔄 Development Workflows

Step-by-step guides for common development scenarios and patterns.

🏛️ Architecture & Internals

Deep dive into how Azu CLI works internally, useful for contributors and advanced users.

⚙️ Configuration

Complete configuration reference for projects, databases, and development environments.

📖 Examples & Tutorials

Hands-on tutorials building real applications with Azu CLI.

🔗 Integration

How to integrate Azu CLI with other tools and frameworks in the Crystal ecosystem.

🛠️ Troubleshooting

Solutions to common issues and problems you might encounter.

🌟 Quick Examples

Create a New Project

# Create a new web application
azu new my_blog --type web --database postgres

# Create an API-only application
azu new my_api --type api --database mysql

Generate Components

# Generate a complete blog post resource
azu generate scaffold Post title:string content:text published:boolean

# Generate a user model
azu generate model User name:string email:string

# Generate a real-time component
azu generate component Counter count:integer --websocket

Development Server

# Start development server with hot reloading
azu serve --port 3000

# Start in development mode (alias)
azu dev

Database Operations

# Create and migrate database
azu db create
azu db migrate

# Seed with sample data
azu db seed

🤝 Community & Support

📄 License

Azu CLI is open source software licensed under the MIT License.

🔗 Related Projects

Ready to get started? Head over to the Installation Guide or jump straight into the Quick Start tutorial!

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