Official CLI Tools for Your Stack

Every major infrastructure vendor ships a command-line tool. These CLIs are built by the same teams that build the products — they are the fastest path to provisioning resources, running local development, managing secrets, and deploying code.

This guide covers the official CLI for every tool in a typical modern web stack. For each one: what it does, how to install it, and the commands you will actually use.

Quick reference

Vercel CLI

Official: Yes Repository: https://github.com/vercel/vercel npm: vercel

The Vercel CLI is the primary tool for deploying projects, managing environment variables, and configuring domains without touching the dashboard.

Installation:

npm install -g vercel
vercel login

Key commands:

# Link a project
vercel link

# Deploy to preview
vercel

# Deploy to production
vercel --prod

# Manage environment variables
vercel env add NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL production
vercel env ls

# Add a custom domain
vercel domains add example.com my-project

# Inspect a deployment
vercel inspect https://my-deployment-url.vercel.app

# View logs
vercel logs my-project

Pro tip: Run vercel dev to get a local environment that runs your Vercel Functions (including edge functions) exactly as they run in production — environment variables included.

Cloudflare Wrangler

Official: Yes Repository: https://github.com/cloudflare/workers-sdk npm: wrangler

Wrangler is the CLI for Cloudflare's developer platform — Workers, Pages, R2, D1, KV, Queues, and Durable Objects.

Installation:

npm install -g wrangler
wrangler login

Key commands:

# Workers
wrangler dev           # Start local dev server
wrangler deploy        # Deploy to Cloudflare
wrangler tail          # Stream live logs

# R2 object storage
wrangler r2 bucket create my-bucket
wrangler r2 bucket list
wrangler r2 object put my-bucket/file.txt --file ./file.txt
wrangler r2 object get my-bucket/file.txt

# D1 SQL databases
wrangler d1 create my-db
wrangler d1 execute my-db --command "SELECT * FROM users LIMIT 10"
wrangler d1 execute my-db --file ./migration.sql

# KV namespaces
wrangler kv namespace create MY_KV
wrangler kv key put --namespace-id abc123 "key" "value"
wrangler kv key get --namespace-id abc123 "key"

# Pages
wrangler pages deploy ./dist --project-name my-site

# Environment secrets
wrangler secret put API_KEY
wrangler secret list

Wrangler config (wrangler.toml):

name = "my-worker"
main = "src/index.ts"
compatibility_date = "2024-01-01"

[[r2_buckets]]
binding = "MY_BUCKET"
bucket_name = "my-bucket"

[[d1_databases]]
binding = "DB"
database_name = "my-db"
database_id = "abc-123"

Supabase CLI

Official: Yes Repository: https://github.com/supabase/cli npm: supabase

The Supabase CLI manages local development, database migrations, and project configuration. It runs a full Supabase stack locally via Docker.

Installation:

# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install supabase/tap/supabase

# npm
npm install -g supabase

Key commands:

# Local development
supabase init          # Initialize project
supabase start         # Start local Supabase (Docker)
supabase stop          # Stop local instance
supabase status        # View local URLs and keys

# Database migrations
supabase migration new add_users_table
supabase db push       # Push migrations to remote
supabase db pull       # Pull remote schema to local
supabase db reset      # Reset local database

# Type generation
supabase gen types typescript --local > types/supabase.ts

# Edge Functions
supabase functions new my-function
supabase functions serve my-function
supabase functions deploy my-function

# Link to remote project
supabase link --project-ref your-project-ref

Local development URLs (after supabase start):

• API: http://localhost:54321
• Studio: http://localhost:54323
• Database: postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:54322/postgres

Stripe CLI

Official: Yes Repository: https://github.com/stripe/stripe-cli

The Stripe CLI is essential for local webhook testing. It forwards real Stripe events to your local server, so you can test payment flows without deploying.

Installation:

# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install stripe/stripe-cli/stripe

# npm
npm install -g stripe-cli

# After install
stripe login

Key commands:

# Webhook forwarding (most important command)
stripe listen --forward-to localhost:3000/api/webhooks/stripe

# Trigger test events
stripe trigger payment_intent.succeeded
stripe trigger customer.subscription.created
stripe trigger invoice.payment_failed

# View recent events
stripe events list

# Create test resources
stripe customers create --email test@example.com
stripe payment-intents create --amount 1000 --currency usd

# View logs
stripe logs tail

Webhook testing setup:

# Get the webhook signing secret for local dev
stripe listen --forward-to localhost:3000/api/webhooks/stripe
# → Output: "Your webhook signing secret is whsec_abc123..."
# → Add this to your .env: STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET=whsec_abc123...

Prisma CLI

Official: Yes Repository: https://github.com/prisma/prisma npm: prisma (devDependency), @prisma/client (runtime)

The Prisma CLI generates type-safe database clients, runs migrations, and manages your schema.

Installation:

npm install prisma --save-dev
npm install @prisma/client
npx prisma init

Key commands:

# Schema management
npx prisma db push          # Push schema changes (no migration file)
npx prisma migrate dev       # Create and apply migration
npx prisma migrate deploy    # Apply pending migrations (CI/prod)
npx prisma migrate reset     # Reset database (dev only)

# Client generation
npx prisma generate          # Regenerate Prisma Client after schema changes

# Database inspection
npx prisma db pull           # Pull existing database schema into schema.prisma
npx prisma studio            # Open visual database browser (localhost:5555)

# Seeding
npx prisma db seed           # Run seed file (defined in package.json)

prisma/schema.prisma example:

generator client {
  provider = "prisma-client-js"
}

datasource db {
  provider = "postgresql"
  url      = env("DATABASE_URL")
}

model User {
  id        String   @id @default(cuid())
  email     String   @unique
  createdAt DateTime @default(now())
}

Convex CLI

Official: Yes Repository: https://github.com/get-convex/convex-js npm: convex

The Convex CLI manages your backend: deploying functions, syncing schema, and managing environment variables. It ships as part of the convex package.

Installation:

npm install convex
npx convex dev    # First run prompts for login and project setup

Key commands:

# Development (watches and auto-deploys on change)
npx convex dev

# One-time sync (no watch mode — useful in CI)
npx convex dev --once

# Production deployment
npx convex deploy

# Environment variables
npx convex env set OPENAI_API_KEY sk-your-key
npx convex env set OPENAI_API_KEY sk-your-key --prod
npx convex env list
npx convex env list --prod

# New project setup (non-interactive — for agents/CI)
npx convex dev --configure new --team myteam --project my-project --once

# Link existing project (non-interactive)
npx convex dev --configure existing --team myteam --project my-project --once

Note for agents: Always use --once flag in automated environments. Without it, convex dev runs in watch mode and never exits.

create-next-app

Official: Yes Repository: https://github.com/vercel/next.js npm: create-next-app

Vercel's official Next.js scaffolding tool. Creates a properly-configured Next.js project with App Router, TypeScript, Tailwind, and ESLint.

Installation: No install needed — use via npx:

npx create-next-app@latest my-app

Interactive prompts will ask:

• TypeScript? (Yes)
• ESLint? (Yes)
• Tailwind CSS? (Yes)
• src/ directory? (Up to you)
• App Router? (Always Yes for modern projects)
• Import alias? (@/*)

Non-interactive (for scripts and agents):

npx create-next-app@latest my-app \
  --typescript \
  --tailwind \
  --eslint \
  --app \
  --no-src-dir \
  --import-alias "@/*"

Tailwind CSS CLI

Official: Yes Repository: https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss npm: tailwindcss

The Tailwind CLI builds your CSS. In most Next.js projects you do not invoke it directly — PostCSS integration handles it via npm run build. But the CLI is useful for standalone CSS builds.

Installation:

npm install tailwindcss

Tailwind v4 setup (current — @import syntax):

/* globals.css */
@import "tailwindcss";

Tailwind v3 setup (legacy — @tailwind directives):

/* globals.css */
@tailwind base;
@tailwind components;
@tailwind utilities;

Warning: Tailwind v4 silently ignores v3 directives. The build passes with zero errors but produces zero CSS — the page renders unstyled. Always verify which version is installed before modifying globals.css.

# Check your installed version
cat package.json | grep tailwindcss

Standalone build (without PostCSS):

npx tailwindcss -i ./src/input.css -o ./dist/output.css --watch

Clerk CLI

Official: Yes Repository: https://github.com/clerk/clerk-cli

Clerk provides a CLI for managing authentication configuration, JWT templates, and user data.

Installation:

npm install -g @clerk/cli
clerk login

Key commands:

# View application config
clerk apps list
clerk apps get

# JWT templates
clerk jwt-templates list

# Generate SDK config
clerk generate --framework nextjs

Most Clerk configuration is handled through the Clerk Dashboard — the CLI is primarily useful for automation and scripting.

Package.json scripts for your CLI-heavy stack

A typical package.json for a project using several of these CLIs:

{
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "next dev",
    "build": "next build",
    "start": "next start",
    "db:push": "prisma db push",
    "db:migrate": "prisma migrate dev",
    "db:studio": "prisma studio",
    "db:generate": "prisma generate",
    "convex:dev": "convex dev",
    "convex:push": "convex dev --once",
    "stripe:listen": "stripe listen --forward-to localhost:3000/api/webhooks/stripe"
  }
}

Keep reading

• Official MCP Servers by Vendor — Connect your AI directly to Cloudflare, Stripe, and Vercel
• npm vs pnpm — Which package manager to use for your stack
• Environment Variables — Managing secrets across local dev, preview, and production
• DevOps and Tools — More tools, configuration guides, and developer workflow references