CLI Overview

@motherbase/cli is the operator CLI for Motherbase.

It is designed as a Supabase-style terminal surface for the same things exposed by the Platform Console and Project Studio: projects, database, RLS, auth users, storage buckets, edge functions, secrets, realtime, webhooks, cron, settings, diagnostics, backups, and local self-host workflows.

npm install -g @motherbase/cli
motherbase --help

Note

The CLI talks to two surfaces: the Platform Console for account and project lifecycle commands, then a linked project for resource commands through the Console proxy. Recent resource commands also cover branches, domains, network/SSL policy, JWT key generation, queues, Vault, Wrappers and index-advisor inspection.

Connection model

Log in to a Console.
Link the current directory to a project.
Run project commands from that directory.

motherbase login --url https://console.example.com
motherbase projects list
motherbase link todo
motherbase status
motherbase db tables

The same command tree falls back to a direct single-project mode for local automation. It applies only when the context has no Console token and no linked project:

MOTHERBASE_URL=http://localhost:5001 \
MOTHERBASE_ADMIN_TOKEN=... \
motherbase users list

What it controls

Area	Commands
Connection	`login`, `logout`, `whoami`, `link`, `unlink`, `status`
Projects	`projects list`, `create`, `start`, `stop`, `restart`, `update`, `rebuild`, `delete`, `logs`, `info`, `limits`
Local stack	`init`, `start`, `stop`, `deploy`, `logs`
Database	`db tables`, `db sql`, `db dump`, `db restore`, `db backups`, `db indexes`, `db types`, `db roles`, `db publications`, `migration new`, `migrations *`, `import`
RLS	`rls list`, `enable`, `disable`, `policy create/delete`, `preset`, `simulate`, `lint`
Users	`users list`, `get`, `create`, `update`, `delete`, `reset-password`, `promote`, `demote`, `revoke-sessions`
Storage	`storage buckets *`, `storage ls`, `storage cp`, `storage rm`
Edge functions	`functions list`, `get`, `new`, `deploy`, `pull`, `serve`, `delete`, `invoke`, `logs`
Operations	`secrets`, `keys`, `realtime`, `webhooks`, `cron`, `queues`, `vault`, `wrappers`, `branches`, `domains`, `config`, `inspect`, `index-advisor`
Codegen and agents	`gen types typescript`, `mcp`

Config files

Global credentials are stored outside your project:

~/.motherbase/config.json

The project link is stored locally:

.motherbase/config.json

Example local link:

{
  "consoleUrl": "https://console.example.com",
  "projectId": "todo",
  "projectName": "todo"
}

The local file contains routing metadata only. Do not put tokens in it.

CI and non-interactive use

Use Console mode when CI should operate a project through the Platform Console:

MOTHERBASE_CONSOLE_URL=https://console.example.com \
MOTHERBASE_TOKEN=mbp_... \
MOTHERBASE_PROJECT=todo \
motherbase db sql -e "select 1"

Use direct mode when CI points straight at one project API:

MOTHERBASE_URL=https://todo.example.com \
MOTHERBASE_ADMIN_TOKEN=... \
motherbase db tables

Each value resolves in that order: explicit flag, environment variable, the local link file, then ~/.motherbase/config.json. Direct mode is chosen only when MOTHERBASE_URL and MOTHERBASE_ADMIN_TOKEN are both set and Console mode has no token or no project.

Supabase migration

The CLI includes a first-class Supabase import path:

motherbase import --from-supabase "$SUPABASE_DB_URL" --preview --json
motherbase import --from-supabase "$SUPABASE_DB_URL" --yes

It imports public schema, data, RLS policies, and email/password users. Storage objects are not copied. See Migrate from Supabase.