title: Project Scaffolder CLI
description: How to generate complete multi-database and multi-protocol project templates with zero boilerplate.

JustAPI features an interactive CLI project generator (justapi create) to scaffold complete applications with your choice of database and API architecture.

Installation

Ensure you have the CLI installed:

cargo install justapi-cli
justapi --version

Interactive Mode

Run justapi create without arguments to launch the TTY interactive wizard:

justapi create my_app

The wizard will prompt you to select:

1. Database Engine: SQLite, PostgreSQL, MySQL, DuckDB, ClickHouse, MongoDB, or Redis.
2. API Protocol: REST (OpenAPI), GraphQL (GraphiQL), gRPC (Protobuf), or JSON-RPC 2.0.

Command Line Flags

Bypass the interactive wizard for scripting or quick scaffolding:

# REST API with DuckDB analytical engine
justapi create analytics_app --db duckdb --api-type rest

# GraphQL API with PostgreSQL database
justapi create graph_service --db postgres --api-type graphql

# gRPC microservice with Redis
justapi create rpc_service --db redis --api-type grpc

# JSON-RPC 2.0 service with SQLite
justapi create jsonrpc_api --db sqlite --api-type jsonrpc

Generated Project Layout

my_app/
├── app/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   └── main.py               # Pre-configured JustAPI application
├── migrations/
│   └── 0001_initial.sql       # Database schema migration
├── docker-compose.otel.yml    # OpenTelemetry, Jaeger, Prometheus, Grafana
├── .env.example               # Environment variable template
└── README.md                  # Project documentation

main.py (Generated Example)

When you select REST + PostgreSQL, the generated main.py looks like:

from justapi import JustAPIApp

app = JustAPIApp(title="my_app", version="0.1.0")

app.set_database("postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/my_app")


@app.get("/")
def root(request):
    return {"service": "my_app", "status": "running"}


@app.get("/health")
def health(request):
    return {"status": "ok"}

Protocol Selection Guide

Database Selection Guide

Development Server

After scaffolding, start the dev server with hot reload:

cd my_app
justapi serve --reload

Next Steps

• First Steps — Build your first API endpoint
• Database Integration — Connect and query databases
• Multi-Protocol APIs — REST, GraphQL, gRPC, JSON-RPC