The command line

Two commands come with @ambers/cli: amber and amberc. Two grunt tasks come with @ambers/sdk: amberc and amdconfig. This page lists what each takes. The build page shows them at work.

amber

amber with no arguments prints its versions and the commands it knows:

Welcome to Amber CLI version 0.108.5 (Amber 0.32.0, NodeJS 24.18.0).
Available commands
config
help
init
repl
serve
version

Command	What it does
`amber init`	Generates a project in the current directory, which must be empty. It runs grunt-init with Amber’s template, asks its questions, and then runs `npm run init`, which is `npm install` and `grunt default devel`.
`amber serve`	Serves the current directory over HTTP and accepts the files Helios commits. Options below.
`amber config`	Writes `config.js` for the current directory, as the `amdconfig` grunt task does, without grunt.
`amber repl`	Opens a read-eval-print loop on Amber under Node.js.
`amber version`, `amber help`	Print the versions, and the list above.

amber serve

The server serves files from its directory and writes a file when Helios commits a package. The welcome line names the port: Starting file server on http://127.0.0.1:4000. Each option takes a value:

Option	Default	What it does
`--port`	`4000`	The port to listen on.
`--host`	`127.0.0.1`	The address to listen on. `0.0.0.0` opens the server to other machines.
`--base-path`	the current directory	The directory to serve. Commits are written under it too.
`--fallback-page`	none	A file to serve for every path that is not a file, for an application with its own routing.
`--username`, `--password`	none	Ask for these with basic authentication.

The server warns when the directory has no index.html. There is no --help: that line starts a server too. The options are also the way the server is scripted; FileServer createServerWithArguments: takes the same list.

amber repl

The REPL evaluates a line as a workspace does. The result of an expression is kept in a variable named res1, res2 and so on, and printed with its class:

Type :q to exit.

amber >> 3 + 4
res1: Number = 7
amber >> x := res1 * 6
x: Number = 42
amber >> :q

An assignment keeps its own name. :q quits. The REPL runs Amber’s kernel with the compiler, not your project; it is for trying the language.

amberc

amberc compiles .st files to .js files from the command line, without grunt. Its usage line is:

amberc [-C configFile | -p mapping1,mapping2...] [-l lib1,lib2...] [-g jsGlobal1,jsGlobal2]
       [-n namespace] [-D output_dir] [-r module1,module2] [-v] file1 file2 ...

Option	What it does
`-C config.js`	Read the loader configuration of a project, so that libraries are found where `grunt` finds them.
`-p amd:path,...`	Map namespaces to directories by hand, when there is no `config.js`.
`-l lib1,lib2`	Load these modules before compiling, so that the compiler knows their classes. The Gruntfile’s `libraries`.
`-g name1,name2`	Accept these JavaScript globals in the sources, as `window` and `document` are accepted.
`-n namespace`	The namespace the compiled packages export under. The Gruntfile’s `amd_namespace`.
`-D directory`	Write the `.js` files here instead of beside their sources.
`-r module1,module2`	Load these Node.js modules first, for a polyfill the compiler needs.
`-v`	Say what it does.

Each file holds one package, named as the file. In a project, this compiles one package the way grunt compiles them all:

amberc -C config.js -l amber/web/Web,silk/Silk -n amber-helloamber src/HelloAmber.st

One difference: amberc compiles with the Amber that came with @ambers/cli, and reads the project’s config.js only to find the libraries. grunt compiles with the project’s own @ambers/lang.

The grunt tasks

grunt.loadNpmTasks('@ambers/sdk') in a Gruntfile makes two tasks available.

amberc compiles a list of .st files. The task has three options. amber_dir is the directory of @ambers/lang, and is required. configFile is the loader configuration to read, and verbose makes it say more. Each target has src, the files in dependency order. It may have libraries, amd_namespace, jsGlobals and output_dir, with the meanings of the amberc options above. The generated Gruntfile points amber_dir at node_modules/@ambers/lang and configFile at config.js.

amdconfig writes the loader configuration. Its target names the file to write, dest: 'config.js'. Its option root_dir says where to look for .amd.json files, the current directory by default. The task finds every .amd.json under that directory, the project’s own and those in node_modules, and writes one require.config call. The libraries page says what the files hold.