The Blok Command Line Interface (CLI), nanoctl, is an essential tool for developing, managing, and deploying your Blok applications. It provides a set of commands to streamline common tasks, from project scaffolding to Node and Workflow creation.

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What is nanoctl?

nanoctl is designed to enhance developer productivity by automating repetitive tasks and providing a consistent interface for interacting with the Blok framework.

Key functionalities typically include:

  • Project Initialization: Creating new Blok projects with a standard directory structure and boilerplate code.
  • Code Generation (Scaffolding): Generating new Nodes, Workflows, and potentially other components with basic templates.
  • Development Server: Running a local development server to test your workflows.
  • Building & Packaging: Preparing your application for deployment.
  • Deployment Commands: Assisting with deploying your Blok applications to various environments (though this might also involve other platform-specific tools).
  • Authentication/Login: Commands to authenticate with Blok services or platforms (e.g., Deskree).

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Installation / Usage

As mentioned in the First Steps guide, you can often use nanoctl directly via npx without a global installation, ensuring you always use the latest version:

npx nanoctl@latest <command>

Refer to the official Blok installation instructions for the recommended approach.

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Common Command Categories

This section of the documentation will cover the main commands provided by nanoctl, grouped by their purpose:

  • Project Management: Commands related to creating and managing Blok projects.
    • npx nanoctl@latest create project
  • Node Management: Commands for scaffolding and managing Nodes.
    • npx nanoctl@latest create node
  • Workflow Management: Commands for scaffolding and managing Workflows.
    • npx nanoctl@latest create workflow
  • Authentication: Commands for logging into Blok platforms or services.
    • npx nanoctl@latest login or npx nanoctl@latest logout
  • Build Process: Commands related to building your application for production.
    • npx nanoctl@latest build
  • Deployment: Commands to assist with deploying your application.
    • npx nanoctl@latest deploy

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Getting Help

Most CLI tools provide a way to get help directly from the command line. You can usually try:

nanoctl --help
nanoctl <command> --help

This will display a list of available commands or specific options for a given command.

Explore the sub-sections for detailed explanations and examples of each nanoctl command group.