CLI

Binary vitepress (bin/vitepress.js → dist/node/cli.js). Commands are parsed with minimist; the first positional is the command, the second is the root directory (dist/node/cli.js:411-415).

Commands

`vitepress dev [root]`

Dev server; defaults to the current directory. The dev keyword is optional when using the current directory (dist/node/cli.js:417).

Flag	Effect
`--open [path]`	Open browser on startup
`--port <port>`	Port to listen on
`--base <path>`	Public base path, default `/`
`--cors`	Enable CORS
`--strictPort`	Exit if the port is taken
`--force`	Re-bundle deps; mapped to `optimizeDeps.force` (`dist/node/cli.js:418-421`)

`vitepress build [root]`

Static build, output to <root>/.vitepress/dist by default.

Flag	Effect
`--mpa`	MPA mode without hydration (experimental)
`--base <path>`	Public base path
`--target <target>`	Transpile target, default `modules`
`--outDir <dir>`	Output dir relative to cwd
`--minify [minifier]`	`boolean \| terser \| esbuild`, default `esbuild`
`--assetsInlineLimit <n>`	Base64 inline threshold in bytes, default `4096`

`vitepress preview [root]` (alias: `vitepress serve [root]`)

Serves the production build locally (dist/node/cli.js:472). Flags: --base <path>, --port <port>.

`vitepress init [root]`

Interactive setup wizard (dist/node/cli.js:454-456). ScaffoldThemeType choices: default theme, default theme + customization, custom theme (dist/node/index.d.ts:2475-2489).

Unknown commands exit with unknown command "<command>" and status 1 (dist/node/cli.js:482-484).

Dev server shortcuts

Bound only when stdin is a TTY and not in CI (dist/node/cli.js:315-317):

Key	Action
`r`	Restart server (clears markdown and dep caches)
`u`	Show server URL
`o`	Open in browser
`c`	Clear console
`q`	Quit
`h`	Show help

(dist/node/cli.js:353-398)

Typical package.json scripts

{
  "scripts": {
    "docs:dev": "vitepress dev",
    "docs:build": "vitepress build",
    "docs:preview": "vitepress preview"
  }
}

(https://vitepress.dev/guide/getting-started)

Compatibility notes

Node.js 18+ (https://vitepress.dev/guide/getting-started).
VitePress v1 errors when running under rolldown-vite; use VitePress v2 for that (dist/node/cli.js:438-444).
Debug with DEBUG=vitepress:* (dist/node/cli.js:400-402) and NODE_OPTIONS='--inspect-brk' for the dev server.

Official reference: https://vitepress.dev/reference/cli

/vitepress-skilld

referencescli.md

CLI