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CLI

The core package (@softarc/sheriff-core) comes with a CLI to initialize the configuration file, list modules, check the rules and export the dependency graph in JSON format.

init​

Run npx sheriff init to create a sheriff.config.ts. Its configuration runs with automatic tagging, meaning no dependency rules are in place, and it only checks for the module boundaries.

verify [main.ts]​

Run npx sheriff verify main.ts to check if your project violates any of your rules. main.ts is in this case the entry file for Sheriff.

See Entry Files and Entry Points for configuration options.

list [main.ts]​

Run npx sheriff list main.ts to print out all your modules along their tags.

See Entry Files and Entry Points for configuration options.

export [main.ts]​

Run npx sheriff export main.ts > export.json to export the dependency graph in JSON format. The dependency graph includes all reachable files. For every file, it will include the assigned module as well as the tags.

See Entry Files and Entry Points for configuration options.

Entry Files and Entry Points​

Sheriff needs to know where to start traversing your project's imports. You can specify this using either an entryFile or entryPoints.

Entry File​

An entry file is a single file that serves as the starting point for Sheriff's analysis. It's typically your application's main entry point.

Depending on your project, you will likely have a different entry file. For example, with an Angular CLI-based project it would be src/main.ts.

Usage with CLI:

npx sheriff verify main.ts
npx sheriff list src/main.ts
npx sheriff export src/main.ts > export.json

Usage with configuration: You can set the entryFile property in sheriff.config.ts:

export const config: SheriffConfig = {
  entryFile: './src/main.ts',
  // ... other configuration
};

When entryFile is set in the configuration, you can omit it from the CLI commands:

npx sheriff verify
npx sheriff list
npx sheriff export > export.json

Entry Points​

Entry points allow you to specify multiple named entry files, useful for workspaces with multiple applications.

Configuration: Define entryPoints in sheriff.config.ts:

export const config: SheriffConfig = {
  entryPoints: {
    'app-web': './apps/web/src/main.ts',
    'app-mobile': './apps/mobile/src/main.ts',
    'app-admin': './apps/admin/src/main.ts',
  },
  // ... other configuration
};

Usage with CLI:

# Check specific entry points
npx sheriff verify app-web,app-mobile
npx sheriff list app-admin
npx sheriff export app-web,app-mobile,app-admin > export.json

# If only one entry point is defined, you can omit it
npx sheriff verify

Priority​

When both entryFile and entryPoints are specified in the configuration, Sheriff will throw an error.

CLI arguments take precedence over configuration