CLI CONSOLE REFERENCE // 15 COMMANDS & OPTIONS

CLI Command Reference

Indie in a Box can be operated completely headlessly via the command line interface. Below is an exhaustive breakdown of every command, option, flag, default value, and realistic terminal invocation.

Global Syntax & Execution

All CLI commands are invoked directly through PHP with the standalone binary:

CLI SYNTAX

php indieinabox.php [command] [options] [arguments]

Run php indieinabox.php help at any time to list all registered commands and their descriptions.

00 // php indieinabox.php --serve

Starts PHP's built-in web server with internal routing dispatched to indieinabox.php. Ideal for local development, content authoring, or low-traffic personal sites.

Option / Flag	Type	Default	Description
--serve	FLAG	false	Activates the built-in HTTP development server daemon.
--port <int>	PARAM	8080	Port to bind the web server (alias: `-p`).
--host <ip>	PARAM	127.0.0.1	Network interface to bind (use `0.0.0.0` for Docker containers).

TERMINAL OUTPUT

$ php indieinabox.php --serve --port 8080
[2026-09-22 10:00:00] PHP 8.3.6 Development Server (http://127.0.0.1:8080) started
[2026-09-22 10:00:02] 127.0.0.1:54120 [200]: GET /
[2026-09-22 10:00:04] 127.0.0.1:54124 [200]: GET /admin/config

01 // setup

Initializes the site database, author identity, administrative password, and default configuration. Can be run interactively or in unattended headless mode using command flags.

Option / Flag	Type	Default	Description
--name <str>	PARAM	Indie In A Box	Site title / publication name (alias: `--sitename`).
--fqdn <url>	PARAM	http://localhost:8080	Fully Qualified Domain Name / root canonical URL (alias: `--url`).
--password <str>	PARAM	auto-generated	Admin & IndieAuth password. If omitted, a secure 24-character random password is generated and printed.
--author <str>	PARAM	Site Author	Display name of the site author for h-card and ActivityPub Actor.
--db <path>	PARAM	data/indieinabox.sqlite	SQLite database file path (alias: `--database`).
--data-dir <dir>	PARAM	data	Persistent storage directory for feeds, database, and local caches.
--lang <code>	PARAM	en	Primary locale code (e.g. `en`, `pt-BR`, `es`).
--force	FLAG	false	Overwrites existing configuration and re-runs database setup without confirmation.

HEADLESS SETUP EXAMPLE

$ php indieinabox.php setup \
    --name "Lumen Cyberdeck" \
    --fqdn "https://lumen.pink" \
    --author "Lumen Pink" \
    --password "SuperSecretPassphrase2026!" \
    --lang "en"

[OK] SQLite database initialized at data/indieinabox.sqlite
[OK] Migrations applied: 18/18 up to date
[OK] Site profile registered: Lumen Pink 
[OK] Admin password configured successfully!

02 // build

Executes the static compilation pipeline. Scans content, builds HTML pages, compiles Gemini capsules (.gmi), Gophermaps, RSS 2.0, Atom, JSON Feeds, and Twtxt timelines, and runs garbage collection.

Option / Flag	Type	Default	Description
-s, --site	FLAG	true	Compiles HTML pages to `public_html/`.
-f, --feeds	FLAG	true	Generates syndication feeds (RSS, Atom, JSON, Twtxt).
-a, --assets	FLAG	true	Copies static CSS, JS, and font assets.
-M, --media	FLAG	true	Synchronizes uploaded user media and Microsub avatars.
-m, --modern	FLAG	true	Compiles Gemini capsules (`public_gemini/`) and Gopher (`public_gopher/`).

TERMINAL BENCHMARK OUTPUT

$ php indieinabox.php build
Scanning content directory...
Virtualizing posts and taxomies...
Built 142 HTML documents
Built 142 Gemini (.gmi) capsules
Built 142 Gophermaps
Generating feeds: rss.xml, atom.xml, twtxt.txt, feed.json
Copying assets and media files...
Running Garbage Collector...

+----------------------------------+-----------------+
| Task                             | Time (ms)       |
+----------------------------------+-----------------+
| Scan + Virtualize                |           12.13 |
| Generate HTML/GMI/Gopher         |          285.36 |
| Generate Feeds                   |            3.00 |
| Copy Assets                      |            0.08 |
| Copy Media                       |            6.66 |
| Copy Static Files                |            0.02 |
| Garbage Collect                  |           11.24 |
+----------------------------------+-----------------+
| TOTAL BUILD TIME                 |          318.49 |
+----------------------------------+-----------------+
Build complete

03 // cron

Executes scheduled asynchronous background pipelines. Handles federated ActivityPub inbox processing, delivery of outbox activities, outgoing Webmention pings, and syndication to Internet Archive.

Option / Flag	Type	Default	Description
--only <task>	PARAM	all	Limits execution to a specific worker: `activitypub`, `webmentions`, or `archive`.

SYSTEMD / CRONTAB INTEGRATION

# Run every 5 minutes in server crontab:
*/5 * * * * cd /var/www/myblog && php indieinabox.php cron >> data/cron.log 2>&1

04 // fetch

Microsub feed fetcher. Traverses active subscriptions across RSS, Atom, JSON Feed, and Twtxt channels and ingests new entries into the local reader database.

Alias	Type	Description
microsub:fetch	ALIAS	Alternative command name registered in the CLI kernel.

TERMINAL OUTPUT

$ php indieinabox.php fetch
Fetching feeds...
[POLL] https://aaronparecki.com/feed.xml -> 3 new items
[POLL] https://werd.io/feed -> 0 new items
[POLL] https://twtxt.net/user/alice/twtxt.txt -> 1 new item
[OK] Microsub database updated successfully (4 items ingested).

05 // post

Creates and publishes content directly from the command line. Automatically assigns post kinds (note, article, reply), processes hashtags, and triggers outgoing syndication.

Subcommand / Option	Type	Default	Description
create	SUBCOMMAND	required	Creates a new post entry.
--text <content>	PARAM	required	Text content or markdown of the post.
--media <file>	PARAM	none	Path to image, audio, or file attachment to upload.

CLI PUBLISHING EXAMPLE

$ php indieinabox.php post create \
    --text "Hacking on the new single-file IndieWeb engine! #indieweb #php" \
    --media ~/photos/desk.jpg

[OK] Post created: 2026-09-22-hacking-on-the-new-single-file.md
[OK] Media attached: desk.jpg (processed & signed)
[OK] Webmentions dispatched: 2 targets pinged
[OK] ActivityPub outbox updated: Create(Note) announced to 48 followers

06 // profile

Updates site identity, bio, social rel-me links, avatar portrait, and profile header banner image.

Subcommand / Option	Type	Description
edit	SUBCOMMAND	Modifies profile metadata text fields.
--username <str>	PARAM	Fediverse handle username (e.g. `@lumen`).
--name <str>	PARAM	Full display name of author.
--bio <str>	PARAM	Short biographical text summary.
media	SUBCOMMAND	Updates profile images.
--avatar <path>	PARAM	Path to portrait avatar image.
--background <path>	PARAM	Path to header banner background image.

PROFILE UPDATE EXAMPLE

$ php indieinabox.php profile edit --username "lumen" --name "Lumen Pink" --bio "Cyberpunk hacker & IndieWeb builder"
$ php indieinabox.php profile media --avatar assets/avatar.png --background assets/banner.jpg
[OK] Profile updated: @lumen (Lumen Pink)
[OK] Media assets optimized and copied to public_media/

07 // config

Direct inspection and manipulation of runtime site configuration key-value pairs stored in the SQLite database.

Subcommand / Option	Type	Description
get --key <str>	PARAM	Prints the current stored value for the specified key.
set --key <k> --value <v>	PARAM	Persists a new value for the configuration key.

CLI USAGE

$ php indieinabox.php config get --key active_theme
default

$ php indieinabox.php config set --key active_theme --value cyber-dark
[OK] Configuration updated: active_theme = 'cyber-dark'

08 // test-links

Static link crawler. Scans generated HTML documents to detect dead hyperlinks, broken relative paths, and unresolvable external URLs.

Option / Flag	Type	Default	Description
--skip-external	FLAG	false	Audits internal links only; avoids issuing outbound HTTP requests.
--internal-only	FLAG	false	Alias for `--skip-external`.
--report <path>	PARAM	none	Exports an audit report in JSON or Markdown to the specified file path.

LINK CHECK OUTPUT

$ php indieinabox.php test-links --skip-external
Scanning 142 HTML files in public_html/...
Crawling 1,280 internal links...
[OK] 1,280 links verified. 0 broken links detected! (Exit code: 0)

09 // migrate

Database schema version control. Applies pending SQLite migrations, rolls back recent batches, or inspects current migration states.

Option / Flag	Type	Default	Description
--status	FLAG	false	Prints a table of all migrations with execution status and timestamp.
--rollback	FLAG	false	Rolls back the last executed migration batch.
--steps <int>	PARAM	1	Number of migration steps to rollback when `--rollback` is enabled.

MIGRATION STATUS TABLE

$ php indieinabox.php migrate --status
+-------------------------------------------------------+---------+---------------------+
| Migration                                             | Status  | Executed At         |
+-------------------------------------------------------+---------+---------------------+
| 2026_09_01_000001_create_posts_table                  | Ran     | 2026-09-01 12:00:00 |
| 2026_09_05_000002_create_activitypub_actors_table     | Ran     | 2026-09-05 14:15:30 |
| 2026_09_12_000003_create_moderation_rules_table       | Ran     | 2026-09-12 18:22:11 |
| 2026_09_20_000004_create_ai_translation_cache_table   | Ran     | 2026-09-20 09:40:02 |
+-------------------------------------------------------+---------+---------------------+
All migrations up to date.

10 // backup

Creates a full point-in-time ZIP backup containing the SQLite database, markdown contents, and media attachments.

Option / Flag	Type	Default	Description
--no-content	FLAG	false	Excludes the markdown `content/` directory from the archive.
--no-media	FLAG	false	Excludes the `public_media/` directory to produce a lightweight backup.

BACKUP EXECUTION

$ php indieinabox.php backup
[BACKUP] Snapshotting database: data/indieinabox.sqlite...
[BACKUP] Archiving markdown posts (142 files)...
[BACKUP] Archiving user media attachments (38 files)...
[OK] Archive created: data/backups/indieinabox_backup_2026-09-22_10-15-00.zip (14.2 MB)

11 // export

Generates a portable, cryptographically verified export bundle (.tar.gz or .zip) complete with a SHA-256 manifest for migrating between servers.

Argument / Option	Type	Default	Description
[output-file]	ARG	timestamped	Positional filename or `--output <path>`.
--no-content	FLAG	false	Omits markdown content folder.
--no-media	FLAG	false	Omits media folder.

12 // import

Restores an export bundle into the running instance. Automatically performs SHA-256 checksum verification, creates an automatic safety rollback snapshot, applies database records, and initiates a rebuild.

Option / Flag	Type	Default	Description
<archive-file>	ARG	required	Path to the `.zip` or `.tar.gz` bundle to import.
--inspect	FLAG	false	Dry-run mode: prints bundle metadata, version compatibility, and contents without modifying disk.
--no-verify	FLAG	false	Bypasses SHA-256 manifest integrity verification.
--no-safety-backup	FLAG	false	Skips automatic safety backup generation before overwriting database.
--no-build	FLAG	false	Prevents triggering `build` static compilation after successful restore.

13 // test-webmention

Diagnostics tool for IndieWeb communication. Tests endpoint discovery on remote URLs, simulates ping transmissions, and validates IndieWebify.me Level 1 representative h-card markup.

Argument / Option	Type	Description
<target-url>	ARG	Target URL to discover Webmention endpoint for.
--source <url>	PARAM	Source URL on your domain containing the link.
--validate-hcard [url]	FLAG	Parses local or remote HTML and asserts presence of `p-name`, `u-url`, `u-photo`, and `u-email` microformats2.

14 // version

Displays installed version details, binary compilation status, PHP environment, and build timestamp.

VERSION OUTPUT

$ php indieinabox.php version
Indie in a Box v1.0.0 (Compiled Standalone Single-File)
Build Date: 2026-09-22 06:59:00 UTC
PHP Version: 8.3.6 (cli) (built: Apr 15 2024 10:20:00)
SQLite Version: 3.45.1 (WAL mode enabled)

15 // update

Integrated in-place self-updater. Communicates with official Codeberg release feeds to verify signatures, download new builds, apply upgrades, and maintain instant rollback backups.

Option / Flag	Type	Description
--check	FLAG	Checks Codeberg for available releases without altering files (default behavior).
--apply	FLAG	Downloads, verifies checksums, creates a pre-update backup, and replaces `indieinabox.php`.
--backups	FLAG	Lists local historical version backups stored in `data/backups/`.
--rollback [--file <f>]	FLAG	Instantly reverts to the previous binary version.

SELF-UPDATE TERMINAL EXAMPLE

$ php indieinabox.php update --check
Current Version: v1.0.0
Latest Available: v1.0.0
[OK] You are running the latest version!

$ php indieinabox.php update --apply
Creating safety backup of indieinabox.php...
Downloading v1.0.0 from Codeberg...
Verifying SHA-256 signature... OK
Applying update in-place...
Running post-update migrations...
[SUCCESS] Updated to Indie in a Box v1.0.0!