# CLI Reference

URL: /docs/reference/cli/
Section: reference
Tags: reference, cli, check, render, fmt

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CLI Reference Kida ships three subcommands: check for validation, render for output, and fmt for formatting. All are available through the kida entry point or python -m kida. kida <command> [options] kida check Parse all .html templates under a directory. Reports syntax errors, loader resolution failures, and optional lint checks. kida check <template_dir> [flags] Positional argument: Argument Description template_dir Root directory passed to FileSystemLoader. All *.html files are scanned recursively. Flags: Flag Description --strict Fail on bare {% end %} closers. Requires explicit {% endif %}, {% endblock %}, {% endcall %}, etc. --validate-calls Validate macro call sites against {% def %} signatures. Reports unknown parameters, missing required parameters, and duplicates. --a11y Check templates for accessibility issues (missing alt attributes, heading order, etc.). --typed Type-check templates against {% template %} declarations. Examples Basic syntax check: kida check templates/ Strict mode with call validation: kida check templates/ --strict --validate-calls Full lint pass (all checks enabled): kida check templates/ --strict --validate-calls --a11y --typed Output format Errors and warnings print to stderr, one per line: layouts/base.html: unexpected tag 'endblock' partials/nav.html:12: strict: unified {% end %} closes 'if' — prefer {% endif %} components/card.html:8: a11y/img-alt [WARNING]: <img> missing alt attribute kida render Render a single template to stdout. Supports HTML and terminal rendering modes. kida render <template> [flags] Positional argument: Argument Description template Path to the template file to render. Flags: Flag Default Description --data FILE none JSON file providing template context variables. --data-str JSON none Inline JSON string providing template context variables. --mode {html,terminal} terminal Rendering mode. terminal enables ANSI styling and width-aware layout. --width INT auto Override terminal width (terminal mode only). --color {none,basic,256,truecolor} auto Override color depth (terminal mode only). --stream off Progressive output: reveal template chunks with a brief delay. --stream-delay SECONDS 0.02 Delay between stream chunks. Requires --stream. Examples Render with inline data: kida render page.html --data-str '{"title": "Hello"}' Render from a JSON file in HTML mode: kida render page.html --data context.json --mode html Terminal mode with explicit width and color: kida render dashboard.html --width 120 --color 256 Streaming output: kida render report.html --data stats.json --stream --stream-delay 0.05 kida fmt Auto-format Kida template files. Accepts individual files or directories (scans for *.html recursively). kida fmt <paths...> [flags] Positional argument: Argument Description paths One or more files or directories to format. Flags: Flag Default Description --indent INT 2 Spaces per indentation level. --check off Check formatting without writing changes. Exits 1 if any file would be reformatted. Examples Format all templates in a directory: kida fmt templates/ Format specific files with 4-space indent: kida fmt layouts/base.html partials/nav.html --indent 4 CI check (no writes, non-zero exit on drift): kida fmt templates/ --check Exit Codes Code Meaning 0 Success. No errors or formatting drift. 1 One or more problems found (check), render failure, or formatting drift (fmt --check). 2 Invalid input: path not found, bad JSON data, or unknown command. See Also Configuration Reference — environment and loader options Filters Reference — built-in filters API Reference — Python API for Environment, FileSystemLoader, and templates

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