COMMAND USE CASES

nself Commands by Use Case

Find the right command for what you want to do.

This guide is organized by task, not by command name. If you know WHAT you want to accomplish but not WHICH command to use, start here.

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Getting Started

I want to...	Command	Details
Create a new project	nself init	init
Create a demo project with all features	nself init --demo	init
Use the simple setup wizard	nself init --simple	init
Generate all configuration files	nself build	build
Start all services	nself start	start
Stop all services	nself stop	stop
Restart everything	nself restart	restart
See all service URLs	nself urls	urls
Check if everything is healthy	nself status	status
Run diagnostics when something is wrong	nself doctor	doctor
Auto-fix common issues	nself doctor --fix	doctor

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Database Operations

I want to...	Command	Details
Open a PostgreSQL shell	nself db shell	db
Run a SQL query directly	nself db query "SELECT ..."	db
Scaffold a schema from a template	nself db schema scaffold saas	db
Import a DBML schema file	nself db schema import schema.dbml	db
Run pending migrations	nself db migrate up	db
Roll back the last migration	nself db migrate down	db
Create a new migration file	nself db migrate create add_users	db
Check migration status	nself db migrate status	db
Seed the database with sample data	nself db seed	db
Generate realistic mock data	nself db mock auto	db
Back up the database	nself db backup	db
Restore from a backup	nself db restore latest	db
Generate TypeScript types from schema	nself db types typescript	db
Generate Go structs from schema	nself db types go	db
Check table sizes and disk usage	nself db inspect size	db
Find slow queries	nself db inspect slow	db
Export table data to CSV	nself db data export users	db
Anonymize PII in the database	nself db data anonymize	db

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Adding & Managing Services

I want to...	Command	Details
See which services are running	nself status	status
Enable Redis caching	Set REDIS_ENABLED=true in .env, then nself build	service
Enable file storage (MinIO)	Set MINIO_ENABLED=true in .env, then nself build	service
Enable search (MeiliSearch)	Set MEILISEARCH_ENABLED=true in .env, then nself build	service
Enable email testing (MailPit)	Set MAILPIT_ENABLED=true in .env, then nself build	service
Enable serverless functions	Set FUNCTIONS_ENABLED=true in .env, then nself build	service
Enable ML experiment tracking	Set MLFLOW_ENABLED=true in .env, then nself build	service
Enable the admin UI	Set NSELF_ADMIN_ENABLED=true in .env, then nself build	admin
Enable full monitoring stack	Set MONITORING_ENABLED=true in .env, then nself build	../services/MONITORING-BUNDLE.md
List available service templates	nself service list	service
Scaffold a new custom service	nself service scaffold	service
Use the service creation wizard	nself service wizard	service
Add a custom service via env	Add CS_1=api:express-js:8001 to .env, then nself build	../services/SERVICES_CUSTOM.md

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Custom Services (CS_N)

I want to...	Command	Details
Add an Express.js API	CS_1=api:express-js:8001 in .env	../services/SERVICES_CUSTOM.md
Add a background worker	CS_2=worker:bullmq-js:8002 in .env	../services/SERVICES_CUSTOM.md
Add a gRPC service	CS_3=grpc:grpc:8003 in .env	../services/SERVICES_CUSTOM.md
Add a Python API	CS_4=ml-api:python-api:8004 in .env	../services/SERVICES_CUSTOM.md
View available templates	nself service list	../reference/SERVICE_TEMPLATES.md
Rebuild after adding a service	nself build && nself restart	build

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Deployment

I want to...	Command	Details
Deploy to staging	nself deploy staging	deploy
Deploy to production	nself deploy production	deploy
Create a preview environment for a branch	nself deploy preview feature-branch	deploy
Do a zero-downtime deployment	nself deploy blue-green	deploy
Do a gradual canary rollout	nself deploy canary --percentage 20	deploy
Roll back the last deployment	nself deploy rollback	deploy
Roll back to a specific version	nself backup rollback --version 3	backup
Check deployment status	nself deploy status	deploy
View deployment history	nself deploy history	deploy
Promote staging to production	nself deploy promote staging production	deploy

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Server Management

I want to...	Command	Details
Provision a new server	nself deploy provision digitalocean	deploy
Initialize a VPS for nself	nself deploy server init <host>	deploy
Check if a server is ready	nself deploy server check <host>	deploy
List all configured servers	nself deploy server list	deploy
SSH into a server	nself deploy server ssh <name>	deploy
Run diagnostics on a server	nself deploy server diagnose <env>	deploy
Sync config to a remote server	nself deploy sync push staging	deploy
Pull config from a remote server	nself deploy sync pull staging	deploy

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Cloud Infrastructure

I want to...	Command	Details
List supported cloud providers	nself infra provider list	infra
Configure cloud credentials	nself infra provider init aws	infra
Estimate hosting costs	nself infra provider cost estimate digitalocean	infra
Compare provider pricing	nself infra provider cost compare	infra
Quick-deploy to a cloud provider	nself infra provider deploy quick digitalocean	infra
Create a managed K8s cluster	nself infra provider k8s-create aws my-cluster us-east-1 3 medium	infra
Convert Compose to K8s manifests	nself infra k8s convert	infra
Deploy to Kubernetes	nself infra k8s deploy	infra
Create a Helm chart	nself infra helm init	infra
Install a Helm release	nself infra helm install	infra

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Multi-Tenancy

I want to...	Command	Details
Initialize multi-tenancy	nself tenant init	tenant
Create a new tenant	nself tenant create "Acme Corp" --plan pro	tenant
List all tenants	nself tenant list	tenant
View tenant details	nself tenant show <tenant-id>	tenant
Suspend a tenant	nself tenant suspend <tenant-id>	tenant
Add a member to a tenant	nself tenant member add <tenant-id> user@email.com admin	tenant
Invite a member	nself tenant member invite <tenant-id> user@email.com	tenant
Set up billing plans	nself tenant billing plans	tenant
View tenant usage	nself tenant billing usage <tenant-id>	tenant
View invoices	nself tenant billing invoice <tenant-id>	tenant
Create an organization	nself tenant org create "My Org"	tenant

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Branding & White-Label

I want to...	Command	Details
Upload a tenant logo	nself tenant branding logo <tenant-id> logo.png	tenant
Set brand colors	nself tenant branding colors <tenant-id> --primary #0066cc	tenant
Preview branding changes	nself tenant branding preview <tenant-id>	tenant
Add a custom domain	nself tenant domains add <tenant-id> app.example.com	tenant
Verify domain DNS	nself tenant domains verify <tenant-id> app.example.com	tenant
Provision SSL for a custom domain	nself tenant domains ssl <tenant-id> app.example.com	tenant
Customize email templates	nself tenant email edit <tenant-id> welcome	tenant
Apply a theme	nself tenant themes apply <tenant-id> dark-mode	tenant
Configure white-label settings	nself dev whitelabel config	dev

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Security & Authentication

I want to...	Command	Details
Set up OAuth (Google, GitHub, etc.)	nself auth oauth enable --providers google,github	auth
Configure OAuth credentials	nself auth oauth config google --client-id=... --client-secret=...	auth
Test an OAuth provider	nself auth oauth test google	auth
Enable multi-factor authentication	nself auth mfa enable	auth
Generate MFA backup codes	nself auth mfa backup-codes	auth
Create a new role	nself auth roles create editor	auth
Assign a role to a user	nself auth roles assign user@email.com editor	auth
Generate SSL certificates	nself auth ssl generate	auth
Trust local SSL certs (no browser warnings)	nself auth ssl trust	auth
Renew SSL certificates	nself auth ssl renew	auth
Configure rate limiting	nself auth rate-limit config	auth
Run a security scan	nself auth security scan	auth
Generate a security audit report	nself auth security report	auth
Create a webhook endpoint	nself auth webhooks create <url> [events]	auth
Test a webhook	nself auth webhooks test <id>	auth

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Configuration & Environment

I want to...	Command	Details
Show current configuration	nself config show	config
Edit configuration	nself config edit	config
Validate my configuration	nself config validate	config
Switch to a different environment	nself config env switch staging	config
List all environments	nself config env list	config
Compare two environments	nself config env diff staging prod	config
Check my access level	nself config env access	config
List all secrets	nself config secrets list	config
Set a secret	nself config secrets set API_KEY value	config
Rotate all secrets	nself config secrets rotate	config
Initialize Vault integration	nself config vault init	config
Export config to a file	nself config export > config.json	config
Import config from a file	nself config import config.json	config

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Monitoring & Debugging

I want to...	Command	Details
Check service health	nself status	status
Watch service health in real time	nself status --watch	status
View logs for a service	nself logs postgres	logs
Follow logs in real time	nself logs hasura -f	logs
View the last 100 log lines	nself logs --tail 100	logs
Open Grafana dashboards	nself monitor grafana	monitor
Open Prometheus	nself monitor prometheus	monitor
Open Alertmanager	nself monitor alertmanager	monitor
Run a deep health check	nself health --deep	health
Set a monitoring profile	nself metrics profile standard	metrics
Run system diagnostics	nself doctor	doctor
Execute a command inside a container	nself exec postgres psql -U postgres	exec
View command history / audit trail	nself history	history
View security audit logs	nself audit	audit

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Performance & Scaling

I want to...	Command	Details
Profile a service	nself perf profile postgres	perf
Run a benchmark / load test	nself perf bench	perf
Scale a service horizontally	nself perf scale hasura 3	perf
Get optimization suggestions	nself perf optimize	perf
Auto-apply optimizations	nself perf optimize --auto-fix	perf

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Backup & Recovery

I want to...	Command	Details
Create a full backup	nself backup create --full	backup
Create an incremental backup	nself backup create --incremental	backup
List available backups	nself backup list	backup
Restore from a backup	nself backup restore <backup-id>	backup
Roll back to a previous version	nself backup rollback --version 3	backup
Reset to a clean state	nself backup reset --confirm	backup
Clean up old backups	nself backup clean --age 30	backup

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Developer Tools

I want to...	Command	Details
Add a frontend app for routing	nself dev frontend add myapp 3000	dev
List frontend apps	nself dev frontend list	dev
Remove a frontend app	nself dev frontend remove myapp	dev
Generate CI/CD config for GitHub Actions	nself dev ci generate --provider github	dev
Generate CI/CD config for GitLab	nself dev ci generate --provider gitlab	dev
Generate project documentation	nself dev docs generate	dev
Serve documentation locally	nself dev docs serve	dev
Configure white-label branding	nself dev whitelabel config	dev
Toggle developer mode	nself dev mode on	dev

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Plugins

I want to...	Command	Details
See available plugins	nself plugin list	plugin
Install the Stripe plugin	nself plugin install stripe	../plugins/stripe
Install the GitHub plugin	nself plugin install github	../plugins/github
Install the Shopify plugin	nself plugin install shopify	../plugins/shopify
Update all plugins	nself plugin update --all	plugin
Check for plugin updates	nself plugin updates	plugin
Remove a plugin	nself plugin remove stripe	plugin
Create a custom plugin	nself plugin create my-plugin	../plugins/development

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File Storage

I want to...	Command	Details
Initialize the storage system	nself service storage init	service
Upload a file	nself service storage upload photo.jpg	service
Upload with thumbnail generation	nself service storage upload avatar.png --thumbnails	service
List stored files	nself service storage list	service
Delete a file	nself service storage delete path/to/file.txt	service
Check pipeline status	nself service storage status	service
Set up GraphQL integration	nself service storage graphql-setup	service

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Email

I want to...	Command	Details
Send a test email	nself service email test	service
Configure email provider	nself service email config <provider>	service
Manage email templates	nself service email template list	service

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Search

I want to...	Command	Details
Initialize a search provider	nself service search init meilisearch	service
Rebuild search indexes	nself service search index	service
Test a search query	nself service search query "search term"	service
Configure search settings	nself service search config	service

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System Maintenance

I want to...	Command	Details
Update nself to the latest version	nself update	update
Check for available updates	nself version --check	version
Show current version	nself version	version
Set up shell completions	nself completion bash	completion
Open the admin UI	nself admin	admin
Tear down all infrastructure	nself destroy	destroy
Preview what destroy would do	nself destroy --dry-run	destroy
Destroy containers but keep data	nself destroy --keep-volumes	destroy

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Migrating From Other Platforms

I want to...	Command	Details
Migrate from Firebase	nself perf migrate from firebase	../migrations/FROM-FIREBASE.md
Migrate from Supabase	nself perf migrate from supabase	../migrations/FROM-SUPABASE.md
Migrate from Nhost	nself perf migrate from nhost	../migrations/FROM-NHOST.md

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Common Workflows

New Project (5 minutes)

nself init --demo           # Create project with all features
nself build                 # Generate configuration
nself start                 # Start 25 containers
nself urls                  # See all service URLs
nself status                # Verify everything is healthy

Daily Development

nself start                 # Start services
nself db migrate up         # Run any new migrations
nself logs hasura -f        # Follow API logs while working
nself stop                  # Stop when done

Database Schema Workflow

nself db schema scaffold saas       # Start with a template
# Edit the generated DBML file
nself db schema apply schema.dbml   # Import + migrate
nself db types typescript           # Generate TypeScript types
nself db seed                       # Add sample data

Deploy to Production

nself config validate               # Validate configuration
nself deploy staging                # Deploy to staging first
# Verify staging works
nself deploy production             # Deploy to production
nself deploy status                 # Check deployment status

Set Up Multi-Tenant SaaS

nself tenant init                                   # Initialize multi-tenancy
nself tenant create "Acme Corp" --plan pro          # Create first tenant
nself tenant billing plans                          # Configure billing plans
nself tenant domains add acme app.acme.com          # Add custom domain
nself tenant branding logo acme logo.png            # Upload branding

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Still Cannot Find What You Need?

• Browse the full command tree: COMMAND-TREE-V1.md
• Read the complete reference: COMMANDS.md
• Use built-in help: nself help <command>
• Run diagnostics: nself doctor
• Check the FAQ: ../getting-started/FAQ.md

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