MDL Documentation

Usage

mdl init [dir] [options]
        mdl new <dir> [options]
        mdl check [app-dir|input.mdl]
        mdl format [app-dir|input.mdl] [options]
        mdl build [app-dir|input.mdl] [options]
        mdl serve [app-dir|input.mdl] [options]
        mdl spec-test [fixtures-dir] [options]

If input is omitted, MDL reads defaults from mdl.json or from the single app config under apps/*/mdl.json.

Selecting input

Commands can target a project, an app folder, or a single .mdl file.

mdl build
        mdl build apps/my-mdl-site
        mdl build pages/index.mdl

If multiple apps exist in one workspace, choose one explicitly:

mdl check apps/admin
        mdl serve apps/marketing

Create projects

`mdl init`

Initialize the current folder or a target directory.

mdl init
            mdl init demo-site
            mdl init --app admin --port 4001

`mdl new`

Create a new folder and initialize it.

mdl new my-site
            mdl new my-site --template blank --no-tailwind

Package scripts

Add missing npm scripts without overwriting custom scripts.

mdl init --package-scripts
            npm run check

Check and format

mdl check validates syntax, config, routes, assets, labels, ARIA references, duplicate ids, and other project details.

mdl check
        mdl check --json
        mdl check pages/index.mdl

mdl format rewrites source files with consistent indentation. Use --check in CI.

mdl format
        mdl format --check
        mdl format --all apps/my-mdl-site

Build

mdl build compiles configured pages to static HTML and copies configured CSS, scripts, assets, output manifests, and source-map sidecars.

mdl build
        mdl build apps/my-mdl-site
        mdl build pages/index.mdl --style css/main.css --title "My Site"
        mdl build pages/index.mdl --output preview.html

Use --fragment only when building one input file and you want the compiled HTML fragment rather than a full document.

Serve

mdl serve starts a local preview server with live reload.

mdl serve
        mdl serve apps/my-mdl-site
        mdl serve pages/index.mdl --port 5050

The server uses the configured port unless --port is provided.

Spec test

mdl spec-test compares .mdl fixtures with expected .html files. It is mainly for language development and conformance checks.

mdl spec-test
        mdl spec-test fixtures/spec
        mdl spec-test --update

Options

Option	Commands	Use
`--app <name>`	`init`, `new`	Create or update `apps/<name>`.
`--force`	`init`, `new`	Overwrite existing scaffold files.
`--quiet`	`init`, `new`	Create files without the init summary.
`--template <name>`	`init`, `new`	Use a starter template. Currently `blank`.
`--package-scripts`	`init`, `new`	Add missing npm `check`, `build`, and `serve` scripts.
`--json`	`check`	Print diagnostics as JSON.
`--check`	`format`	Report files that need formatting.
`--all`	`format`	Format all configured pages.
`-o`, `--output <file>`	`build`	Write HTML to a specific path.
`--fragment`	`build`	Emit only the compiled HTML fragment.
`--style <file>`	`build`, `serve`	Add a stylesheet to full-document output.
`--script <file>`	`build`, `serve`	Add a JavaScript module.
`--head-script <file>`	`build`, `serve`	Add a classic script tag in the head.
`--title <title>`	`build`, `serve`	Set the HTML document title.
`--port <port>`	`init`, `new`, `serve`	Set or override the dev-server port.
`--update`	`spec-test`	Rewrite expected fixture HTML files.

MDL command reference