bknd/docs/usage/cli.mdx

---
title: 'Using the CLI'
description: 'How to start a bknd instance using the CLI.'
---

Instead of running **bknd** using a framework, you can also use the CLI to quickly spin up a
full functional instance. To see all available options, run:

```
npx bknd
```

Here is the output:
```
$ npx bknd
Usage: bknd [options] [command]

bknd cli

Options:
  -V, --version     output the version number
  -h, --help        display help for command

Commands:
  user <action>     create and update user (auth)
  schema [options]  get schema
  run [options]
  config [options]  get default config
  help [command]    display help for command
```

## Starting an instance (`run`)
To see all available `run` options, execute `npx bknd run --help`.

```
$ npx bknd run --help
Usage: bknd run [options]

Options:
  -p, --port <port>      port to run on (default: 1337, env: PORT)
  -c, --config <config>  config file
  --db-url <db>          database url, can be any valid libsql url
  --db-token <db>        database token
  --server <server>      server type (choices: "node", "bun", default: "node")
  -h, --help             display help for command
```

### In-memory database
To start an instance with an ephemeral in-memory database, run the following:
```
npx bknd run
```
Keep in mind that the database is not persisted and will be lost when the process is terminated.

### File-based database
To start an instance with a file-based database, run the following:
```
npx bknd run --db-url file:data.db
```

### Turso/LibSQL database
To start an instance with a Turso/LibSQL database, run the following:
```
npx bknd run --db-url libsql://your-db.turso.io --db-token <your-token>
```
The `--db-token` option is optional and only required if the database is protected.