Usage
Options for OpenAPI Generator are the same whether you're using the CLI, Maven/Gradle Plugins, or Online generation options. This page demonstrates navigating the options via CLI. Commands are presented here in a logical progression as a tutorial, but you're welcome to skip directly to the generate command.
help
The help option lists all commands available to the CLI.
openapi-generator-cli help
usage: openapi-generator-cli <command> [<args>]
The most commonly used openapi-generator-cli commands are:
author Utilities for authoring generators or customizing templates.
batch Generate code in batch via external configs.
config-help Config help for chosen lang
generate Generate code with the specified generator.
help Display help information about openapi-generator
list Lists the available generators
meta MetaGenerator. Generator for creating a new template set and configuration for Codegen. The output will be based on the language you specify, and includes default templates to include.
validate Validate specification
version Show version information used in tooling
See 'openapi-generator-cli help <command>' for more information on a specific
command.
version
The version command provides version information, returning either the version by default, the git commit sha when passed --sha, or verbose output when passed --full.
NAME
openapi-generator-cli version - Show version information used in tooling
SYNOPSIS
openapi-generator-cli version [--full] [--sha]
OPTIONS
--full
Full version details
--sha
Git commit SHA version
list
The list command outputs a formatted list of every available generator. Pass the -s/--short option if you would like a CSV output for easy parsing.
openapi-generator-cli help list
NAME
openapi-generator-cli list - Lists the available generators
SYNOPSIS
openapi-generator-cli list [(-i <include> | --include <include>)]
[(-s | --short)]
OPTIONS
-i <include>, --include <include>
comma-separated list of stability indexes to include (value:
all,beta,stable,experimental,deprecated). Excludes deprecated by
default.
-s, --short
shortened output (suitable for scripting)
Example:
openapi-generator-cli list -s | tr ',' '\n'
For the full list of generators, refer to the Generators List.
config-help
The config-help option provides details about
openapi-generator-cli help config-help
NAME
openapi-generator-cli config-help - Config help for chosen lang
SYNOPSIS
openapi-generator-cli config-help
[(-f <output format> | --format <output format>)] [--feature-set]
[--full-details]
[(-g <generator name> | --generator-name <generator name>)]
[--import-mappings] [--instantiation-types]
[--language-specific-primitive] [--markdown-header] [--named-header]
[(-o <output location> | --output <output location>)] [--reserved-words]
OPTIONS
-f <output format>, --format <output format>
Write output files in the desired format. Options are 'text',
'markdown' or 'yamlsample'. Default is 'text'.
--feature-set
displays feature set as supported by the generator
--full-details
displays CLI options as well as other configs/mappings (implies
--instantiation-types, --reserved-words,
--language-specific-primitives, --import-mappings,
--supporting-files)
-g <generator name>, --generator-name <generator name>
generator to get config help for
--import-mappings
displays the default import mappings (types and aliases, and what
imports they will pull into the template)
--instantiation-types
displays types used to instantiate simple type/alias names
--language-specific-primitive
displays the language specific primitives (types which require no
additional imports, or which may conflict with user defined model
names)
--markdown-header
When format=markdown, include this option to write out markdown
headers (e.g. for docusaurus).
--named-header
Header includes the generator name, for clarity in output
-o <output location>, --output <output location>
Optionally write help to this location, otherwise default is
standard output
--reserved-words
displays the reserved words which may result in renamed model or
property names
The option of note is -g/--generator-name (other options are exposed for tooling).
You may pass any generator name (see list command) to -g, and options specific to that generator will be displayed. Some generators have many options, while others may have only a few.
Example:
openapi-generator-cli config-help -g go
Outputs:
CONFIG OPTIONS
packageName
Go package name (convention: lowercase). (Default: openapi)
hideGenerationTimestamp
Hides the generation timestamp when files are generated. (Default: true)
packageVersion
Go package version. (Default: 1.0.0)
withGoCodegenComment
whether to include Go codegen comment to disable Go Lint and collapse by default in GitHub PRs and diffs (Default: false)
withXml
whether to include support for application/xml content type and include XML annotations in the model (works with libraries that provide support for JSON and XML) (Default: false)
prependFormOrBodyParameters
Add form or body parameters to the beginning of the parameter list. (Default: false)
To pass these go client generator-specific options to the generate command for a go client, use the --additional-properties option. See the generate command section for an example.
meta
The meta command creates a new Java class and template files, used for creating your own custom templates.
openapi-generator-cli help meta
NAME
openapi-generator-cli meta - MetaGenerator. Generator for creating a new
template set and configuration for Codegen. The output will be based on
the language you specify, and includes default templates to include.
SYNOPSIS
openapi-generator-cli meta [(-l <language> | --language <language>)]
[(-n <name> | --name <name>)]
[(-o <output directory> | --output <output directory>)]
[(-p <package> | --package <package>)] [(-t <type> | --type <type>)]
OPTIONS
-l <language>, --language <language>
the implementation language for the generator class
-n <name>, --name <name>
the human-readable name of the generator
-o <output directory>, --output <output directory>
where to write the generated files (current dir by default)
-p <package>, --package <package>
the package to put the main class into (defaults to
org.openapitools.codegen)
-t <type>, --type <type>
the type of generator that is created
For an in-depth example of using the meta command, see Customization.
validate
The validate command allows you to validate an input specification, optionally providing recommendations for error fixes or other improvements (if available).
openapi-generator-cli help validate
NAME
openapi-generator-cli validate - Validate specification
SYNOPSIS
openapi-generator-cli validate
(-i <spec file> | --input-spec <spec file>) [--recommend]
OPTIONS
-i <spec file>, --input-spec <spec file>
location of the OpenAPI spec, as URL or file (required)
--recommend
Valid Spec Example (using petstore-v3.0.yaml)
openapi-generator-cli validate -i petstore-v3.0.yaml
Validating spec (petstore-v3.0.yaml)
No validation issues detected.
Invalid Spec Example (using petstore-v3.0-invalid.yaml):
openapi-generator-cli validate -i petstore-v3.0-invalid.yaml
Validating spec (petstore-v3.0-invalid.yaml)
Errors:
-attribute info is missing
[error] Spec has 1 errors.
completion
Although not documented in the help output, the CLI offers a completion command, which can be used for auto-completion.
This command takes one or more parameters representing the args list you would otherwise pass to openapi-generator. For example:
openapi-generator-cli completion config-help
-o
--output
--named-header
-g
--generator-name
-f
--format
--markdown-header
An example bash completion script can be found in the repo at scripts/openapi-generator-cli-completion.bash.
generate
The generate command is the workhorse of the generator toolset. As such, it has many more options available than the previous commands. The abbreviated options are below, but you may expand the full descriptions.
openapi-generator-cli help generate
NAME
openapi-generator-cli generate - Generate code with the specified
generator.
SYNOPSIS
openapi-generator-cli generate
[(-a <authorization> | --auth <authorization>)]
[--api-name-suffix <api name suffix>] [--api-package <api package>]
[--artifact-id <artifact id>] [--artifact-version <artifact version>]
[(-c <configuration file> | --config <configuration file>)] [--dry-run]
[(-e <templating engine> | --engine <templating engine>)]
[--enable-post-process-file]
[(-g <generator name> | --generator-name <generator name>)]
[--generate-alias-as-model] [--git-host <git host>]
[--git-repo-id <git repo id>] [--git-user-id <git user id>]
[--global-property <global properties>...] [--group-id <group id>]
[--http-user-agent <http user agent>]
[(-i <spec file> | --input-spec <spec file>)]
[--ignore-file-override <ignore file override location>]
[--import-mappings <import mappings>...]
[--instantiation-types <instantiation types>...]
[--invoker-package <invoker package>]
[--language-specific-primitives <language specific primitives>...]
[--legacy-discriminator-behavior] [--library <library>]
[--log-to-stderr] [--minimal-update]
[--model-name-prefix <model name prefix>]
[--model-name-suffix <model name suffix>]
[--model-package <model package>]
[(-o <output directory> | --output <output directory>)] [(-p <additional properties> | --additional-properties <additional properties>)...]
[--package-name <package name>] [--release-note <release note>]
[--remove-operation-id-prefix]
[--reserved-words-mappings <reserved word mappings>...]
[(-s | --skip-overwrite)] [--server-variables <server variables>...]
[--skip-operation-example] [--skip-validate-spec]
[--strict-spec <true/false strict behavior>]
[(-t <template directory> | --template-dir <template directory>)]
[--type-mappings <type mappings>...] [(-v | --verbose)]
generate OPTIONS
OPTIONS
-a <authorization>, --auth <authorization>
adds authorization headers when fetching the OpenAPI definitions
remotely. Pass in a URL-encoded string of name:header with a comma
separating multiple values
--api-name-suffix <api name suffix>
Suffix that will be appended to all API names ('tags'). Default:
Api. e.g. Pet => PetApi. Note: Only ruby, python, jaxrs generators
support this feature at the moment.
--api-package <api package>
package for generated api classes
--artifact-id <artifact id>
artifactId in generated pom.xml. This also becomes part of the
generated library's filename
--artifact-version <artifact version>
artifact version in generated pom.xml. This also becomes part of the
generated library's filename
-c <configuration file>, --config <configuration file>
Path to configuration file. It can be JSON or YAML. If file is JSON,
the content should have the format {"optionKey":"optionValue",
"optionKey1":"optionValue1"...}. If file is YAML, the content should
have the format optionKey: optionValue. Supported options can be
different for each language. Run config-help -g {generator name}
command for language-specific config options.
--dry-run
Try things out and report on potential changes (without actually
making changes).
-e <templating engine>, --engine <templating engine>
templating engine: "mustache" (default) or "handlebars" (beta)
--enable-post-process-file
Enable post-processing file using environment variables.
-g <generator name>, --generator-name <generator name>
generator to use (see list command for list)
--generate-alias-as-model
Generate model implementation for aliases to map and array schemas.
An 'alias' is an array, map, or list which is defined inline in a
OpenAPI document and becomes a model in the generated code. A 'map'
schema is an object that can have undeclared properties, i.e. the
'additionalproperties' attribute is set on that object. An 'array'
schema is a list of sub schemas in a OAS document
--git-host <git host>
Git host, e.g. gitlab.com.
--git-repo-id <git repo id>
Git repo ID, e.g. openapi-generator.
--git-user-id <git user id>
Git user ID, e.g. openapitools.
--global-property <global properties>
sets specified global properties (previously called 'system
properties') in the format of name=value,name=value (or multiple
options, each with name=value)
--group-id <group id>
groupId in generated pom.xml
--http-user-agent <http user agent>
HTTP user agent, e.g. codegen_csharp_api_client, default to
'OpenAPI-Generator/{packageVersion}/{language}'
-i <spec file>, --input-spec <spec file>
location of the OpenAPI spec, as URL or file (required if not loaded
via config using -c)
--ignore-file-override <ignore file override location>
Specifies an override location for the .openapi-generator-ignore
file. Most useful on initial generation.
--import-mappings <import mappings>
specifies mappings between a given class and the import that should
be used for that class in the format of type=import,type=import. You
can also have multiple occurrences of this option.
--instantiation-types <instantiation types>
sets instantiation type mappings in the format of
type=instantiatedType,type=instantiatedType.For example (in Java):
array=ArrayList,map=HashMap. In other words array types will get
instantiated as ArrayList in generated code. You can also have
multiple occurrences of this option.
--invoker-package <invoker package>
root package for generated code
--language-specific-primitives <language specific primitives>
specifies additional language specific primitive types in the format
of type1,type2,type3,type3. For example:
String,boolean,Boolean,Double. You can also have multiple
occurrences of this option.
--legacy-discriminator-behavior
Set to false for generators with better support for discriminators.
(Python, Java, Go, PowerShell, C#have this enabled by default).
--library <library>
library template (sub-template)
--log-to-stderr
write all log messages (not just errors) to STDOUT. Useful for
piping the JSON output of debug options (e.g. `--global-property
debugOperations`) to an external parser directly while testing a
generator.
--minimal-update
Only write output files that have changed.
--model-name-prefix <model name prefix>
Prefix that will be prepended to all model names.
--model-name-suffix <model name suffix>
Suffix that will be appended to all model names.
--model-package <model package>
package for generated models
-o <output directory>, --output <output directory>
where to write the generated files (current dir by default)
-p <additional properties>, --additional-properties <additional
properties>
sets additional properties that can be referenced by the mustache
templates in the format of name=value,name=value. You can also have
multiple occurrences of this option.
--package-name <package name>
package for generated classes (where supported)
--release-note <release note>
Release note, default to 'Minor update'.
--remove-operation-id-prefix
Remove prefix of operationId, e.g. config_getId => getId
--reserved-words-mappings <reserved word mappings>
specifies how a reserved name should be escaped to. Otherwise, the
default _<name> is used. For example id=identifier. You can also
have multiple occurrences of this option.
-s, --skip-overwrite
specifies if the existing files should be overwritten during the
generation.
--server-variables <server variables>
sets server variables overrides for spec documents which support
variable templating of servers.
--skip-operation-example
Skip examples defined in operations to avoid out of memory errors.
--skip-validate-spec
Skips the default behavior of validating an input specification.
--strict-spec <true/false strict behavior>
'MUST' and 'SHALL' wording in OpenAPI spec is strictly adhered to.
e.g. when false, no fixes will be applied to documents which pass
validation but don't follow the spec.
-t <template directory>, --template-dir <template directory>
folder containing the template files
--type-mappings <type mappings>
sets mappings between OpenAPI spec types and generated code types in
the format of OpenAPIType=generatedType,OpenAPIType=generatedType.
For example: array=List,map=Map,string=String. You can also have
multiple occurrences of this option.
-v, --verbose
verbose mode
At a minimum, generate requires:
-gto specify the generator-oto specify a meaningful output directory (defaults to the current directory!)-ito specify the input OpenAPI document
NOTE You may also pass
-Dcoloras a system property to colorize terminal outputs.
Examples
The following examples use petstore.yaml.
Additional Properties
Generator-specific options should be passed as --additional-properties:
openapi-generator-cli generate -g go --additional-properties=prependFormOrBodyParameters=true \
-o out -i petstore.yaml
Pass more options via comma delimited key/value pairs:
--additional-properties=key1=value1,key2=value2
For the full list of generator-specific parameters, refer to generators docs.
Type Mappings and Import Mappings
Most generators allow for types bound to the OpenAPI Specification's types to be remapped to a user's desired types. Not all type mappings can be reassigned, as some generators define mappings which are tightly coupled to the built-in templates.
If you're not using your own templates with star/glob package imports, you will most likely need to combine --type-mappings and --import-mappings together.
--type-mappingsDefines the user's target type--import-mappingsInforms the template of the type to be imported
Here's how one might change the kotlin-spring server generator's default of OffsetDateTime to LocalDateTime:
openapi-generator-cli generate \
-i petstore.yaml \
-g kotlin-spring \
-o out \
--additional-properties=library=spring-boot,beanValidations=true,serviceImplementation=true \
--import-mappings=DateTime=java.time.LocalDateTime \
--type-mappings=DateTime=java.time.LocalDateTime
NOTE: mappings are applied to
DateTime, as this is the representation of the primitive type. See DefaultCodegen.
File Post-Processing
The --enable-post-process-file option enables specific generators to invoke some external language-specific formatting script. Each filename is passed individually to this external script, allowing for linting, formatting, or other custom clean-up.
For more details, see File Post-Processing.
Target External Models
Sometimes you don't want the codegen to make a model for you--you might want to just include one that already exists in your codebase. Say you already have a User object and want to reuse that, which has a different model package from the other generated files:
First, indicate that the class is already included by default. This will keep the codegen from trying to generate the class.
--language-specific-primitives=Pet
This command line option will tell the generator to consider Pet a "primitive" type.
Next, if the Pet class is a different package, add an --import-mapping to tell the generator to include that import wherever Pet is used:
--import-mappings=Pet=com.yourpackage.models.Pet
Now the codegen will know what to import from that specific package.
NOTE: import-mappings is assigned a key-value pair in this example, but multiple values can be comma-separate. For instance:
--import-mappings=Pet=com.yourpackage.models.Pet,User=com.yourpackage.models.User
Configuration File
Rather than passing generator options in a CSV of --additional-properties, you may also provide the settings via JSON file or YAML file.
For example, one of our typescript samples has the following configuration file:
{
"npmName": "@swagger/typescript-fetch-petstore",
"npmVersion": "1.0.0",
"npmRepository" : "https://skimdb.npmjs.com/registry",
"snapshot" : false,
"supportsES6": true
}
These settings can be passed via -c filename. Here, we've saved the above as config.json:
openapi-generator-cli generate -i petstore.yaml -g typescript-fetch -o out \
-c config.json
Same configuration file can be passed into YAML format having following equivalent content:
npmName: "@swagger/typescript-fetch-petstore"
npmVersion: "1.0.0"
npmRepository: "https://skimdb.npmjs.com/registry"
snapshot: false
supportsES6: true
The settings are passed exactly the same as for config.json. The most important part is the file extension. Supported values are yml or yaml.
The name of the file should be config.yml or config.yaml (in our example it will be config.yaml).
openapi-generator-cli generate -i petstore.yaml -g typescript-fetch -o out \
-c config.yaml
batch
The batch command allows you to move all CLI arguments supported by the generate command into a YAML or JSON file.
NOTE: This command supports an additional !include property which may point to another "shared" file, the base path to which can be
modified by --includes-base-dir. Starting with 5.0.0, the !batch command supports multiple !include properties, either sequential or nested under other keys. In order to support multiple !include properties in a JSON file, the property name can have a suffix, e.g. !include1, !include2, etc. The suffix have no meaning other than providing unique property names.
openapi-generator-cli help batch
NAME
openapi-generator-cli batch - Generate code in batch via external
configs.
SYNOPSIS
openapi-generator-cli batch [--clean] [--fail-fast]
[--includes-base-dir <includes>] [(-r <threads> | --threads <threads>)]
[--root-dir <root>] [--timeout <timeout>] [(-v | --verbose)] [--]
<configs>...
OPTIONS
--clean
clean output of previously written files before generation
--fail-fast
fail fast on any errors
--includes-base-dir <includes>
base directory used for includes
-r <threads>, --threads <threads>
thread count
--root-dir <root>
root directory used output/includes (includes can be overridden)
--timeout <timeout>
execution timeout (minutes)
-v, --verbose
verbose mode
--
This option can be used to separate command-line options from the
list of argument, (useful when arguments might be mistaken for
command-line options
<configs>
Generator configuration files.
Example:
# create "shared" config
mkdir shared && cat > shared/common.yaml <<EOF
inputSpec: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/OpenAPITools/openapi-generator/master/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/resources/3_0/petstore.yaml
additionalProperties:
x-ext-name: "Your Name"
EOF
# create nested "shared" config
cat > shared/nested.yaml <<EOF
useCompareNetObjects: "true"
EOF
# create "standard" configs
cat > kotlin.yaml <<EOF
'!include': 'shared/common.yaml'
outputDir: out/kotlin
generatorName: kotlin
artifactId: kotlin-petstore-string
additionalProperties:
dateLibrary: string
serializableModel: "true"
EOF
cat > csharp.yaml <<EOF
'!include': 'shared/common.yaml'
outputDir: out/csharp-netcore
generatorName: csharp-netcore
additionalProperties:
packageGuid: "{321C8C3F-0156-40C1-AE42-D59761FB9B6C}"
'!include': 'shared/nested.yaml'
EOF
# Generate them
openapi-generator-cli batch *.yaml
author
This command group contains utilities for authoring generators or customizing templates.
openapi-generator-cli help author
NAME
openapi-generator-cli author - Utilities for authoring generators or
customizing templates.
SYNOPSIS
openapi-generator-cli author
openapi-generator-cli author template [--library <library>]
[(-v | --verbose)]
[(-o <output directory> | --output <output directory>)]
(-g <generator name> | --generator-name <generator name>)
OPTIONS
--help
Display help about the tool
--version
Display full version output
COMMANDS
With no arguments, Display help information about openapi-generator
template
Retrieve templates for local modification
With --library option, library template (sub-template)
With --verbose option, verbose mode
With --output option, where to write the template files (defaults to
'out')
With --generator-name option, generator to use (see list command for
list)
template
This command allows user to extract templates from the CLI jar which simplifies customization efforts.
openapi-generator-cli help author template
NAME
openapi-generator-cli author template - Retrieve templates for local
modification
SYNOPSIS
openapi-generator-cli author template
(-g <generator name> | --generator-name <generator name>)
[--library <library>]
[(-o <output directory> | --output <output directory>)]
[(-v | --verbose)]
OPTIONS
-g <generator name>, --generator-name <generator name>
generator to use (see list command for list)
--library <library>
library template (sub-template)
-o <output directory>, --output <output directory>
where to write the template files (defaults to 'out')
-v, --verbose
verbose mode
Example:
Extract Java templates, limiting to the webclient library.
openapi-generator-cli author template -g java --library webclient
Extract all Java templates:
openapi-generator-cli author template -g java