CLI Reference

Overview

The Wails CLI (wails3) is the command-line entry point for creating, developing, building, signing, packaging, and inspecting Wails 3 applications. Most build orchestration is delegated to per-project Taskfiles (under build/ in your project) — many wails3 commands are thin wrappers that invoke a specific task.

For the most up-to-date help on any command, run:

wails3 --help
wails3 <command> --help

Project lifecycle

Command	Description
`wails3 init`	Create a new project from a template. Flags: `-n` (project name), `-t` (template, default `vanilla`), `-p` (Go package name, default `main`), `-d` (project directory, default `.`), `-q` (quiet), `-l` (list templates), `-mod` (Go module path), `--git` (Git repository URL), `--skipgomodtidy`, `-s` (skip remote-template warning), `--productname`/`--productdescription`/`--productversion`/`--productcompany`/`--productcopyright`/`--productcomments`/`--productidentifier`.
`wails3 dev`	Run the application in development mode with frontend hot reload. Flags: `--config` (default `./build/config.yml`), `--port` (Vite dev port), `-s` (enable HTTPS).
`wails3 build`	Build the project. Thin wrapper around the Taskfile `build` task. Flags: `--tags` (forwarded as `EXTRA_TAGS=`), `--obfuscated` (build with Garble; see Obfuscated Builds), `--garbleargs` (extra flags forwarded to `garble` before the `build` subcommand).
`wails3 package`	Run the platform-specific `package` Taskfile task.
`wails3 task [name]`	Run any Taskfile task; with no name, `--list` shows every registered task.
`wails3 doctor`	Print a diagnostic report of your environment.
`wails3 doctor-ng`	Newer TUI variant of `doctor`.
`wails3 version`	Print the CLI version.
`wails3 releasenotes`	Print recent release notes.
`wails3 docs`	Open the docs site in your browser.
`wails3 sponsor`	Open the sponsor page.

Generation

wails3 generate <subcommand>:

Subcommand	Description
`generate bindings`	Generate Go-to-frontend bindings. Flags: `-d` (output dir), `-models`, `-index`, `-ts`, `-i` (interfaces), `-b` (bundle), `-names` (emit `Call.ByName`), `-noevents`, `-noindex`, `-dry`, `-silent`, `-v`, `-clean` (default `true`), `-f`, `-obfuscated` (generate `wails_obfuscated.gen.go` with stable binding IDs for Garble builds; see Obfuscated Builds), `-obfuscated-output` (directory for the generated file; defaults to the main package directory). Accepts package patterns (e.g. `./...`); falls back to the current directory if none given.
`generate icons`	Convert a source PNG into the platform icon formats. Flags: `-input`, `-windowsfilename`, `-macfilename`, `-iconcomposerinput`, `-macassetdir`.
`generate build-assets`	Generate the `build/` directory contents (Taskfile snippets, NSIS files, `Info.plist`, `.desktop` template, etc.) from `build/config.yml`.
`generate runtime`	Regenerate the pre-built `/wails/runtime.js` shipped to the webview.
`generate syso`	Generate the Windows `.syso` resource file (icon + manifest + version info).
`generate webview2bootstrapper`	Generate a WebView2 bootstrap installer for Windows.
`generate constants`	Generate JS event-name constants from Go event types.
`generate template`	Scaffold a new project template.
`generate .desktop`	Generate a Linux `.desktop` file (used by AppImage/DEB/RPM).
`generate appimage`	Generate the AppImage build directory.

Update

wails3 update <subcommand>:

Subcommand	Description
`update build-assets`	Refresh the `build/` directory from `build/config.yml` (preserves user edits where possible).
`update cli`	Self-update the `wails3` binary.

Code signing & packaging

Command	Description
`wails3 setup signing`	Interactive wizard that configures signing for the platforms it detects in `build/`. Flags: `--platform` (repeatable; defaults to auto-detect from build directory).
`wails3 setup entitlements`	Interactive wizard for macOS entitlements. Flag: `--output` (path; default `build/darwin/entitlements.plist`).
`wails3 sign [GOOS=…]`	Wrapper that runs the platform-specific `*:sign` Taskfile task for the current OS (or the one specified via `GOOS`).
`wails3 tool sign`	Low-level direct signing entry point. Flags: `--input`, `--output`, `--verbose`, `--certificate`, `--password`, `--thumbprint`, `--timestamp`, `--identity`, `--entitlements`, `--hardened-runtime`, `--notarize`, `--keychain-profile`, `--pgp-key`, `--pgp-password`, `--role`.

There is no wails3 signing subcommand — for keychain credentials use xcrun notarytool store-credentials, and for PGP keys use gpg directly (the wails3 setup signing wizard automates both).

Tools

wails3 tool <subcommand>:

Subcommand	Description
`tool checkport`	Check whether a TCP port is open (useful for waiting on Vite).
`tool watcher`	Run a command whenever watched files change.
`tool cp`	Cross-platform file copy.
`tool buildinfo`	Print the embedded Go build info from a binary.
`tool package`	Build a Linux package (`deb`, `rpm`, `archlinux`) from `build/linux/nfpm`.
`tool version`	Bump a project’s semantic version.
`tool lipo`	Combine multiple macOS architecture binaries into a universal binary.
`tool capabilities`	Probe the system for GTK3/GTK4 / WebKit availability.
`tool sign`	(See Code signing & packaging.)

Services

wails3 service <subcommand>:

Subcommand	Description
`service init`	Scaffold a new service package.

iOS

wails3 ios <subcommand>:

Subcommand	Description
`ios overlay:gen`	Generate the Go overlay for the iOS bridge shim.
`ios xcode:gen`	Generate an Xcode project in the output directory.

Build output paths

Native binaries land in bin/<APP_NAME> (or bin/<APP_NAME>.exe on Windows). There is no build/bin/.
Packaged outputs (.app, .dmg, NSIS installer, MSIX, DEB/RPM/AppImage) likewise land in bin/ (or under platform-specific subdirectories created by the relevant Taskfile task).

Global flags

Flag	Applies to	Description
`--no-colour`	All commands	Disable ANSI colour in CLI output.

Questions? Ask in Discord or check the examples.