# Overview

Command-line interface for managing Paradoc artifacts

Canonical URL: https://docs.paradoc.dev/cli/

The Paradoc CLI (`paradoc`) is a command-line tool for working with Paradoc artifacts — structured definitions of forms, documents, checklists, and bundles. It takes a registry-first approach: discover and install pre-built artifacts from shared registries, then validate, render, and manage them locally. It's also an authoring tool for creating new artifacts from scratch.

## Key capabilities

* Install artifacts from public or private registries
* Create new artifacts (forms, documents, checklists, bundles)
* Validate artifacts against the Paradoc JSON Schema
* Render layers to PDF, DOCX, or Markdown
* Diff and patch artifacts
* Build and host your own registries
* Generate TypeScript types from artifacts

## Installation

The CLI requires Node.js 22 or newer.

**npm**

```bash
npm install -g paradoc-cli
```

**pnpm**

```bash
pnpm add -g paradoc-cli
```

**yarn**

```bash
yarn global add paradoc-cli
```

**bun**

```bash
bun add -g paradoc-cli
```

Verify the installation:

```bash
paradoc --version
```

The package registers one command, `paradoc`.

The CLI is published as two packages with the same version and behavior: `paradoc-cli` and `@paradoc/cli`. Install one of them, not both. Each registers the `paradoc` command, so a second global install fails with `EEXIST`. These docs use `paradoc-cli`.

To run it once without a global install:

```bash
npx paradoc-cli --version
```

## Next steps

* [Projects](/cli/projects) - Project structure, manifest, lock file, and output formats
* [Configuration](/cli/configuration) - Global and project settings, environment variables and cache
* [Registries](/concepts/registries) - Consuming and creating artifact registries
* [Command reference](/cli/commands) - Full list of available commands