Add to an existing project · Framework

Run aventara init inside an existing NestJS 12 project:

npx @aventara/cli@rc init

To start a NestJS 12 project for it, use the Nest CLI version aventara new pins:

npx -y @nestjs/cli@12.0.8 new my-api        # npm
pnpm dlx @nestjs/cli@12.0.8 new my-api      # pnpm

aventara new runs this for you and then init, so use it instead unless you want to set up the Nest project yourself first.

It refuses, in one sentence and before writing anything, when there is no package.json, the project is on another Nest major, TypeScript 7 is installed (the server side needs TypeScript below 7, and init says so; a TypeScript 7 frontend is fine), only a yarn lockfile exists, or the project is already initialized. ESM and CommonJS projects are both supported.

No ORM yet

If the project has no Prisma setup, init asks for the ORM and database (or take them from --orm prisma7 and --db) and writes the same files as aventara new (what it creates): a Prisma schema with a starter User model, prisma.config.ts, src/prisma.service.ts, src/aventara.config.ts, src/aventara.adapter.ts, a one-time edit of src/app.module.ts and src/main.ts (CORS, below), .env, .gitignore entries and the package.json scripts and dependencies.

Prisma is already there

If Prisma is already set up, init reuses and never writes your schema, Prisma config, .env and Prisma service. It requires the installed Prisma to be one an Aventara adapter supports:

Prisma 7, ^7.10.1
SQLite or PostgreSQL
a driver adapter (@prisma/adapter-better-sqlite3 or @prisma/adapter-pg)
the prisma-client generator

Otherwise it stops with one sentence and writes nothing.

init looks for the class that extends PrismaClient (your Prisma service) and for the Nest module that provides and exports it. If it finds more than one, or none, it asks, or you pass them:

npx @aventara/cli@rc init \
  --prisma-service src/prisma/prisma.service.ts#PrismaService \
  --prisma-module src/prisma/prisma.module.ts#PrismaModule

If there is no Prisma service at all, init writes src/prisma.service.ts for you.

Flags

Every question has a flag; where nobody can be asked (CI, scripts) pass the flags or --yes, otherwise the run stops before writing anything and names what is missing. See the CLI reference for the full table.

Existing content that differs from what would be written (a .env key, a script, a file) is listed and replaced only when you confirm, or with --yes. That includes a prebuild, prestart, prestart:dev or prestart:debug script you already have: init adds these four, each running aventara:prepare, and keeps yours unless you confirm or pass --yes.

What it changes in `main.ts` and `.env`

init makes two small edits so a browser frontend on another origin can call the server (CORS):

src/main.ts gets an app.enableCors(...) call that reads the allowed origins from CORS_ORIGINS, followed by a commented-out rate limiter (Rate limiting).
.env gets CORS_ORIGINS="http://localhost:5173,http://localhost:3001" (Vite's dev server and a Next.js one beside Nest's port 3000). An existing .env keeps its other lines and gets this one appended.

If your main.ts already configures CORS (enableCors, or a cors option on NestFactory.create), init leaves it as it is, adds no CORS_ORIGINS line, and says so:

aventara: warning: src/main.ts already configures CORS, so it was left as it is; a browser frontend on another origin is answered only if that configuration allows it.

If it has no const app = await NestFactory.create(...) statement to anchor on, it does not edit the file, and prints the lines for you to add after the application is created:

aventara: warning: src/main.ts was not edited: it has no `const app = await NestFactory.create(…);` line; add CORS by hand, as printed below.

The build step and where generated files go

init adds @aventara/build as a dev dependency and ends the aventara:prepare script with aventara-build. Aventara's generated files (the discovery artifact, resources.generated.ts, computed-fields.generated.ts and contracts.generated.ts) go in src/generated/aventara/. When your Prisma client is already generated into src/generated, they go in src/aventara/ instead, because prisma generate empties its own output directory and would delete them. src/aventara.config.ts then imports the Resource tree from ./aventara/resources.generated, and .gitignore gets one /src/aventara/ line that covers all four files. What each file is: Deploying.

After init

aventara init shows its steps while it works, like aventara new (Progress), and prints the next steps last. --verbose shows the install's output as it runs.

npx prisma db push      # init never touches a database
npm run start:dev       # GET http://localhost:3000/api/_contract

Then set up the frontend with npx @aventara/client@rc init.

Wiring by hand

init is a convenience; the result is ordinary code. You can mount Aventara yourself with AventaraModule. See NestJS host.