Emulsify CLI

Command line interface for creating Emulsify projects, installing component systems, installing system components, generating local components, and routing project audits to Emulsify Core.

Requirements

Emulsify CLI requires Node.js 24 or newer.

Installation

Install Emulsify CLI globally from npm:

npm install -g @emulsify/cli

Run the current command help at any time:

emulsify
emulsify --help

Quick Start

Create a Drupal starter project, install a system, and add components:

emulsify init "My Theme" ./web/themes/custom --platform drupal
cd ./web/themes/custom/my_theme
emulsify system install
emulsify component list
emulsify component install card
emulsify component create promo-card --directory molecules --format default

Built-in platforms are drupal, wordpress, and none. For WordPress child themes, use the WordPress platform and starter:

emulsify init "My Theme" ./wp-content/themes --platform wordpress

When WordPress is auto-detected, Emulsify initializes child themes into the detected themes directory, such as wp-content/themes/my-theme or web/app/themes/my-theme for Bedrock.

For non-interactive environments, pass the flags that normally prompt for input:

emulsify init "My Theme" ./web/themes/custom --platform drupal --yes
emulsify system install compound
emulsify component create promo-card --directory molecules --format default --yes

Documentation

Detailed documentation lives in docs.

Topic	Use This When
CLI Reference	Looking up commands, aliases, options, and examples.
Project Initialization	Creating a new Emulsify project from a starter.
Systems	Listing, installing, or authoring component systems.
Components	Listing, installing, dry-running, or creating components.
Project Configuration	Understanding project.emulsify.json, variants, and structure mappings.
Component Template Overrides	Customizing files generated by emulsify component create.
Hooks And Cache	Understanding starter hooks, system hooks, and local repository cache behavior.
Development	Setting up this repository and running local checks.
Release	Understanding CI, semantic-release, and npm publishing.

Command Overview

Command	Alias	Description
emulsify init [name] [path]		Initializes an Emulsify project from a starter.
emulsify audit [...args]		Runs the project-installed Emulsify Core audit.
emulsify system list	emulsify system ls	Lists built-in systems available for installation.
emulsify system install [name]		Installs or scaffolds a system in the current Emulsify project.
emulsify component list	emulsify component ls	Lists components available from the installed system and variant.
emulsify component install [name]	emulsify component i [name]	Installs one component from the installed system and variant.
emulsify component create [name]	emulsify component c [name]	Creates a local component in the current Emulsify project.

emulsify audit is a convenience façade. The project-installed @emulsify/core package remains the owner of the canonical emulsify-audit machine interface, checks, findings, JSON schema, output, and exit behavior. See the CLI reference and Core audit documentation.

Contributors

See Contributors.