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Hono CLI is a CLI for Humans and AI who use Hono.

It's not a create-* command, not only for dev, build, and deploy, but also not a Vite wrapper. Built on an entirely new concept.

Hono CLI will give you the hono command. For Humans, you can use sub-commands specialized for Hono for simple usages. For AI, providing sub-commands to build your Hono application efficiently with AI coding.

Installation

npm install -g @hono/cli

Usage

# Show help
hono --help
# Display documentation
hono docs
# Search documentation
hono search middleware
# Send request to Hono app
hono request
# Start server
hono serve
# Generate an optimized Hono app
hono optimize

Commands

  • docs [path] - Display Hono documentation
  • search <query> - Search Hono documentation
  • request [file] - Send request to Hono app using app.request()
  • serve [entry] - Start server for Hono app
  • optimize [entry] - Generate an optimized Hono app

docs

Display Hono documentation content directly in your terminal.

hono docs [path]

Arguments:

  • path - Documentation path (optional)

Examples:

# Display main documentation summary (llms.txt)
hono docs
# Display specific documentation pages
hono docs /docs/concepts/motivation
hono docs /docs/guides/best-practices
hono docs /docs/api/context
# Display examples and tutorials
hono docs /examples/stytch-auth
hono docs /examples/basic

search

Search through Hono documentation using fuzzy search powered by Algolia.

hono search <query> [options]

Arguments:

  • query - Search query (required)

Options:

  • -l, --limit <number> - Number of results to show (default: 5, max: 20)
  • -p, --pretty - Display results in human-readable format (default: JSON output)

Examples:

# Search for middleware documentation (JSON output by default)
hono search middleware
# Search with pretty formatting for human-readable output
hono search middleware --pretty
# Search with custom result limit
hono search "getting started" --limit 10

Output Format:

By default, the command outputs JSON for easy integration with other tools:

{
  "query": "middleware",
  "total": 5,
  "results": [
    {
      "title": "Middleware ​",
      "category": "",
      "url": "https://hono.dev/docs/guides/middleware#middleware",
      "path": "/docs/guides/middleware"
    },
    {
      "title": "Third-party Middleware - Hono",
      "category": "Middleware",
      "url": "https://hono.dev/docs/middleware/third-party#VPSidebarNav",
      "path": "/docs/middleware/third-party"
    }
  ]
}

With the --pretty flag, results are displayed in a human-readable format:

1. Middleware ​
   URL: https://hono.dev/docs/guides/middleware#middleware
   Command: hono docs /docs/guides/middleware
2. Third-party Middleware - Hono
   Category: Middleware
   URL: https://hono.dev/docs/middleware/third-party#VPSidebarNav
   Command: hono docs /docs/middleware/third-party

request

Send HTTP requests to your Hono application using the built-in app.request() method. This is particularly useful for testing and development.

hono request [file] [options]

Arguments:

  • file - Path to the Hono app file (TypeScript/JSX supported, optional)

Options:

  • -P, --path <path> - Request path (default: "/")
  • -X, --method <method> - HTTP method (default: GET)
  • -d, --data <data> - Request body data
  • -H, --header <header> - Custom headers (can be used multiple times)
  • -w, --watch - Watch for changes and resend request
  • -J, --json - Output response as JSON
  • -o, --output <file> - Write to file instead of stdout
  • -O, --remote-name - Write output to file named as remote file
  • -i, --include - Include protocol and headers in the output
  • -I, --head - Show only protocol and headers in the output
  • -e, --external <package> - Mark package as external (can be used multiple times)

Examples:

# GET request to default app root (uses src/index.ts or src/index.tsx)
hono request
# GET request to specific path
hono request -P /users/123
# POST request with data
hono request -P /api/users -X POST -d '{"name":"Alice"}'
# Request to specific file
hono request -P /api src/your-app.ts
# Request with custom headers
hono request -P /api/protected \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer token' \
  -H 'User-Agent: MyApp' \
  src/your-app.ts
# Request with external packages (useful for Node.js native modules)
hono request -e pg -e dotenv src/your-app.ts

Response Format:

The command returns a JSON object with the following structure:

{
  "status": 200,
  "body": "{\"message\":\"Hello World\"}",
  "headers": {
    "content-type": "application/json",
    "x-custom-header": "value"
  }
}

serve

Start a server for your Hono application. This is a simple server specialized for Hono applications with built-in TypeScript and JSX support.

hono serve [entry] [options]

Arguments:

  • entry - Entry file for your Hono app (TypeScript/JSX supported, optional)

Options:

  • -p, --port <port> - Port number (default: 7070)
  • --show-routes - Show registered routes
  • --use <middleware> - Use middleware (can be used multiple times)
  • -e, --external <package> - Mark package as external (can be used multiple times)

Examples:

# Start server with default empty app (no entry file needed)
hono serve
# Start server on specific port
hono serve -p 3000 src/app.ts
# Start server with specific entry file
hono serve src/app.ts
# Start server and show routes
hono serve --show-routes src/app.ts
# Start server with middleware
hono serve --use 'cors()' src/app.ts
# Start server with multiple middleware
hono serve --use 'cors()' --use 'logger()' src/app.ts
# Start server with authentication and static file serving
hono serve \
  --use 'basicAuth({ username: "foo", password: "bar" })' \
  --use "serveStatic({ root: './' })"
# Start server with external packages (useful for Node.js native modules)
hono serve -e pg -e prisma src/app.ts

optimize

Generate an optimized Hono class and export bundled file.

This command automatically applies the following optimizations to reduce bundle size:

  • Request body API removal: Removes request body APIs (c.req.json(), c.req.formData(), etc.) when your application only uses GET, HEAD, or OPTIONS methods
  • Context response API removal: Removes unused response utility APIs (c.body(), c.json(), c.text(), c.html(), c.redirect()) from Context object
  • Hono API removal: Removes unused Hono methods (route, mount, fire) that are only used during application initialization
hono optimize [entry] [options]

Arguments:

  • entry - Entry file for your Hono app (TypeScript/JSX supported, optional)

Options:

  • -o, --outfile <outfile> - Output file
  • -m, --minify - minify output file
  • -t, --target [target] - environment target
  • --no-request-body-api-removal - Disable request body API removal optimization
  • --no-context-response-api-removal - Disable response utility API removal from Context object
  • --no-hono-api-removal - Disable Hono API removal optimization

Examples:

# Generate an optimized Hono class and export bundled file to dist/index.js
hono optimize
# Specify entry file and output file
hono optimize -o dist/app.js src/app.ts
# Export bundled file with minification
hono optimize -m
# Specify environment target
hono optimize -t es2024
# Disable specific optimizations
hono optimize -m --no-request-body-api-removal
hono optimize -m --no-context-response-api-removal
hono optimize -m --no-hono-api-removal

Tips

Using Hono CLI with AI Code Agents

When working with AI code agents like Claude Code, you can configure them to use the hono CLI for efficient documentation access and testing. Add the following to your project's CLAUDE.md or similar configuration:

## Hono Development
Use the `hono` CLI for efficient development. View all commands with `hono --help`.
### Core Commands
- **`hono docs [path]`** - Browse Hono documentation
- **`hono search <query>`** - Search documentation
- **`hono request [file]`** - Test app requests without starting a server
### Quick Examples
```bash
# Search for topics
hono search middleware
hono search "getting started"
# View documentation
hono docs /docs/api/context
hono docs /docs/guides/middleware
# Test your app
hono request -P /api/users src/index.ts
hono request -P /api/users -X POST -d '{"name":"Alice"}' src/index.ts
```
### Workflow
1. Search documentation: `hono search <query>`
2. Read relevant docs: `hono docs [path]`
3. Test implementation: `hono request [file]`

Pipeline Integration with jq

The search command outputs JSON by default, making it easy to pipe results to other commands:

# Search and view documentation in one command
hono search "middleware" | jq '.results[0].path' | hono docs

Authors

License

MIT

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