Init

The init command creates a config file for your project. It detects existing schema folders and generates a matching config automatically.

bunx cerial init

Options

What It Does

1. Checks for an existing config. If cerial.config.ts or cerial.config.json already exists, it stops with an error. Delete the existing file first if you want to reinitialize.

2. Scans for schema folders. Cerial looks for convention markers (schema.cerial, main.cerial, index.cerial) and legacy directories (schemas/, schema/).

3. Asks you to confirm. In interactive mode, it shows which folders it found and lets you rename them or skip detection.

4. Writes the config file. A cerial.config.ts or cerial.config.json is written to the current directory.

Interactive Mode

Running cerial init without flags starts an interactive session:

$ bunx cerial init

  Found schema folders: ./schemas/auth, ./schemas/cms
  Configure them? (Y/n) Y
  Schema name for ./schemas/auth? (default: auth)
  Schema name for ./schemas/cms? (default: cms)
  Output format: TypeScript or JSON? (default: TypeScript)

  Created cerial.config.ts

Schema names default to the folder name. You can type a different name at the prompt or press Enter to accept the default.

Non-Interactive Mode

Pass --yes to skip all prompts and accept defaults. This is useful in CI scripts or automated setups:

bunx cerial init --yes

With --yes:

• All detected schema folders are included with their default names
• TypeScript format is used
• No prompts are shown

Generated Output

The config content depends on how many schema folders are detected.

No Schemas Found

A template config with placeholder paths:

import { defineConfig } from 'cerial';

export default defineConfig({
  schema: './schemas',
  output: './client',
});

Single Schema

A shorthand config pointing to the detected folder:

import { defineConfig } from 'cerial';

export default defineConfig({
  schema: './schemas/main',
  output: './client',
});

Multiple Schemas

A multi-schema config with each folder as a named entry:

import { defineConfig } from 'cerial';

export default defineConfig({
  schemas: {
    auth: { path: './schemas/auth' },
    cms: { path: './schemas/cms' },
  },
});

JSON Format

If you choose JSON, the same structure is written as cerial.config.json:

{
  "schemas": {
    "auth": { "path": "./schemas/auth" },
    "cms": { "path": "./schemas/cms" }
  }
}

Overwrite Protection

cerial init refuses to overwrite an existing config file, even with --yes. If you see this error:

A config file already exists: cerial.config.ts
Remove it first if you want to reinitialize.

Delete the existing config and run init again.

Next Steps

After creating your config, generate the client:

bunx cerial generate

For more on config options, see Configuration. For multi-schema setups, see Multi-Schema.