CLI Usage

Comprehensive guide to using PAPER-CODE from the command line.

Interactive Mode

The most user-friendly way to generate documentation.

paper-code init

This launches an interactive wizard that guides you through:

1. Project name
2. Project type selection
3. Tech stack selection
4. Library/module selection
5. Output directory

Command-Line Flags

Generate documentation without interactive prompts:

paper-code init \
  --name "My Project" \
  --type frontend \
  --stack "React" \
  --libraries "TypeScript,TailwindCSS,Redux" \
  --output ./docs

Available Flags

Flag	Description	Example
--name	Project name	--name "My App"
--type	Project type	--type frontend
--stack	Tech stack	--stack "React"
--libraries	Comma-separated libraries	--libraries "TypeScript,TailwindCSS"
--output	Output directory	--output ./output
--template-dir	Custom templates directory	--template-dir ./templates
--ai-generate	Generate with AI	--ai-generate
--ai-hint	Additional context for AI	--ai-hint "E-commerce platform"

Batch Mode (Infrastructure as Code)

Generate documentation from a configuration file for automation:

paper-code generate --config paper.config.json

Configuration File Format

Create paper.config.json:

{
  "projects": [
    {
      "name": "Frontend App",
      "type": "frontend",
      "stack": "React",
      "libraries": ["TypeScript", "TailwindCSS", "TanStack Query"],
      "output": "./frontend-docs"
    },
    {
      "name": "Backend API",
      "type": "backend",
      "stack": "NestJS",
      "libraries": ["TypeScript", "Prisma", "PostgreSQL"],
      "output": "./backend-docs"
    }
  ]
}

This is perfect for:

• CI/CD pipelines
• Monorepo documentation
• Multi-project initialization
• Automated documentation updates

Update Mode

Update existing documentation while preserving custom changes:

paper-code update --project ./my-project

PAPER-CODE will:

1. Detect existing documentation
2. Analyze custom modifications
3. Merge template updates
4. Preserve your changes

AI-Powered Features

Generate with AI Descriptions

export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
paper-code init --ai-generate

With Context Hints

paper-code init \
  --ai-generate \
  --ai-hint "Real-time inventory system with multi-tenant support"

Project Type Reference

Frontend

• React, Vue, Angular, Next.js, Nuxt, SvelteKit, Remix, Astro

Backend

• Node.js/Express, NestJS, FastAPI, Django, Go, Ruby on Rails

Mobile

• React Native, Flutter, Kotlin, Swift

Other

• Game Dev, ML/Data Science, DevOps, CLI Tools

Stack-Specific Options

After selecting a project type, available stacks vary. Examples:

Frontend Stacks:

paper-code init --type frontend --stack "React"
paper-code init --type frontend --stack "Next.js"
paper-code init --type frontend --stack "Vue"

Backend Stacks:

paper-code init --type backend --stack "NestJS"
paper-code init --type backend --stack "FastAPI"
paper-code init --type backend --stack "Express"

Helpful Commands

View Help

paper-code --help

View Version

paper-code --version

List Available Stacks

paper-code stacks

List Available Libraries

paper-code libraries

Tips & Tricks

Scripting Documentation Generation

Create a bash script for consistent initialization:

#!/bin/bash
PROJECT_NAME=$1
PROJECT_TYPE=$2
TECH_STACK=$3

paper-code init \
  --name "$PROJECT_NAME" \
  --type "$PROJECT_TYPE" \
  --stack "$TECH_STACK" \
  --output "./output"

Usage:

./generate-docs.sh "My App" "frontend" "React"

Using with Git Hooks

Generate docs on pre-commit:

# .git/hooks/pre-commit
paper-code update --project .
git add docs/

Monorepo Approach

Use batch mode for monorepos:

paper-code generate --config monorepo-config.json

Then commit all generated docs to version control.