init

The init command is used to initialize a project with BAML. It sets up the necessary directory structure and configuration files to get you started with BAML.

Usage

baml-cli init [OPTIONS]

Options

Description

The init command performs the following actions:

1. Creates a new BAML project structure in ${DEST}/baml_src.
2. Creates a generators.baml file in the baml_src directory with initial configuration.
3. Includes some additional examples files in baml_src to get you started.

Client Types

The --client-type option allows you to specify the type of BAML client to generate. Available options include:

• python/pydantic: For Python clients using Pydantic
• typescript: For TypeScript clients
• go: For native Go clients (recommended for Go projects)
• ruby/sorbet: For Ruby clients using Sorbet
• rest/openapi: For REST clients using OpenAPI

If not specified, it uses the default from the runtime CLI configuration.

OpenAPI Client Types

When using --client-type=rest/openai, you can specify the OpenAPI client generator using the --openapi-client-type option. Some examples include:

• go
• java
• php
• ruby
• rust
• csharp

For a full list of supported OpenAPI client types, refer to the OpenAPI Generator documentation.

Examples

1. Initialize a BAML project in the current directory with default settings:

   baml init

2. Initialize a BAML project in a specific directory:

   baml init --dest /path/to/my/project

3. Initialize a BAML project for Python with Pydantic:

   baml init --client-type python/pydantic

4. Initialize a BAML project for OpenAPI with a Go client:

   baml init --client-type openapi --openapi-client-type go

5. Initialize a BAML project with native Go client (recommended):

   baml init --client-type go

Notes

• If the destination directory already contains a baml_src directory, the command will fail to prevent overwriting existing projects.
• The command attempts to infer the OpenAPI generator command based on what’s available in your system PATH. It checks for openapi-generator, openapi-generator-cli, or falls back to using npx @openapitools/openapi-generator-cli.
• After initialization, follow the instructions provided in the console output for language-specific setup steps.