CLI flags

The complete surface of the flow binary. For what each command does, see the CLI guide.

Commands

Command	Purpose
run	Run the pipeline
explain	Print the execution plan without running it
validate	Load and validate the pipeline
init	Scaffold a starter pipeline.ts
list	Show recent runs
logs	Show logs for a run — logs [run-id|latest]
backup	Snapshot the local run-history DB — backup <path>
clean	Purge local run history and logs
doctor	Check the environment for running pipelines
migrate	Scan a Jenkinsfile → suggested pipeline.ts
export	Print a CI wrapper config — export github-actions|gitlab-ci|jenkins

The CLI runs pipelines locally and nothing else. Teams, projects, tokens, remote runs and the web UI belong to the server and worker.

Flags

Flag	Short	Value	Default	Meaning
--file	-f	path	pipeline.ts	Pipeline file to load
--concurrency	-j	positive int	the pipeline's concurrency, else 1	Max stages running in parallel over the DAG
--watch	-w	—	off	Re-run on file changes; forces no history
--reporter	—	see below	auto-detected	Console reporter
--junit	—	path	—	Also write a JUnit XML report
--json	—	—	off	Machine-readable output
--stage	—	id or name	—	Filter logs to one stage
--all	—	—	off	clean also removes cache and stash
--out	—	path	stdout	Where migrate writes the suggested pipeline
--plugins	—	—	off	init scaffolds with @flowwright/plugin-node
--no-history	—	—	off	Don't record this run to history
--no-docker	—	—	off	Run container stages on the host instead of Docker
--no-color	—	—	off	Disable colored output
--help	-h	—	—	Print help, exit 0
--version	—	—	—	Print the version, exit 0

--no-history, --no-docker and --no-color are flags in their own right, not negations — there is no --history or --docker.

--reporter takes pretty, ci, github, gitlab or json. Anything else is an error. See Reporters for how auto-detection picks one.

Which command takes which flag

--help, --version and --no-color work everywhere. The rest are per-command:

Command	Accepts
run	--file --concurrency --watch --json --reporter --junit --no-history --no-docker
explain	--file --json
validate	--file
doctor	--file
init	--file --plugins
logs	--stage
clean	--all
migrate	--out
list	— none
backup	— none
export	— none

A flag a command doesn't accept is a hard error, not a no-op:

$ flow list --junit report.xml
flow list: --junit is not an option for this command

Exit code 1. A command that silently ignored a flag would be lying about having written a report.

Environment variables

Six, and no more. Anything else named FW_* belongs to the server or worker — those are on Configuration, not here.

Variable	Effect
NO_COLOR	Any non-empty value disables color. Empty counts as unset
CI	true or 1 selects the ci reporter
GITHUB_ACTIONS	true selects the github reporter
GITLAB_CI	true selects the gitlab reporter
GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY	Path the github reporter appends its job summary to; empty means off
FW_SQLITE_REEXEC	Internal. Set on a re-exec'd child so the wrapper can't loop

--reporter and --json both beat provider detection. Color is off if either --no-color is passed or NO_COLOR is set — neither overrides the other — and also whenever stdout is not a TTY.

Exit codes

Code	Means
0	Success
1	Usage error, a plan that failed to load or validate, or doctor found a problem
130	Cancelled — see below
anything	flow run propagates the failing stage's own exit code

A failing pipeline exits with the exit code of the command that failed, so node -e "process.exit(2)" failing makes flow run exit 2. That's what makes flow run a drop-in CI step.

130 is cancellation. Ctrl-C or SIGTERM aborts the run, finishes writing the reports, and exits 130. A second signal gives up immediately. See Running in CI for what survives a cancelled job.