Usage

Command structure

bee [global-options] <command> [options] [arguments]

Use within Lando, DDEV or Docksal

Lando

lando bee [global-options] <command> [options] [arguments]

DDEV

ddev bee [global-options] <command> [options] [arguments]

Docksal

fin bee [global-options] <command> [options] [arguments]

Global Options

• --root
  Specify the root directory of the Backdrop installation to use. If not set, will try to find the Backdrop installation automatically based on the current directory. For example, bee --root=docroot status
• --site
  Specify the directory name or URL of the Backdrop site to use (as defined in 'sites.php'). If not set, will try to find the Backdrop site automatically based on the current directory. For example bee --site=example-a status or bee --site=www.example-a.com status
• --base-url
  Specify the base URL of the Backdrop site, such as https://example.com/backdrop. May be useful with commands that output URLs to pages on the site.
• --yes, -y
  Answer 'yes' to questions without prompting.
• --debug, -d
  Enables 'debug' mode, in which 'log' type messages will be displayed (in addition to all other messages).

Commands

Configuration

config-export

Description: Export config from the site.
Aliases: cex, bcex
Examples:

• bee config-export
  Exports config (from 'active' to 'staging') for the current site.

config-import

Description: Import config into the site.
Aliases: cim, bcim
Examples:

• bee config-import
  Imports config (from 'staging' to 'active') for the current site.

config-get

Description: Get the value of a specific config option, or view all the config options in a given file.
Aliases: cget
Arguments:

• file
  The name of the config object to retrieve. This is the name of the config file, less the '.json' suffix.
• option
  (optional) The name of the config option within the file to read. This may contain periods to indicate levels within the config file. Leave blank to display the entire config file.

Examples:

• bee config-get system.core site_name
  Get the value of the 'site_name' config option.
• bee config-get devel.settings
  See all the config options for the Devel module.

config-set

Description: Set the value of an option in a config file.
Aliases: cset
Arguments:

• file
  The name of the config object to retrieve. This is the name of the config file, less the '.json' suffix.
• option
  The name of the config option within the file to set. This may contain periods to indicate levels within the config file.
• value
  The value to save in the config file.

Examples:

• bee config-set image.style.thumbnail effects.0.data.width 200
  Change the width of the Thumbnail image style.

Projects

projects

Description: Display information about available projects (modules, themes, layouts).
Aliases: pml , pmi , project , pm-list , pm-info
Arguments:

• project - (optional) The name of a project to display information for. Leave blank to list information about all projects.

Options:

• --type=TYPE - Restrict list to projects of a given type: 'module', 'theme' or 'layout'.

Examples:

• bee projects webform - Show information about the Webform module.
• bee projects --type=layout - Show information about all available layouts.
• bee projects - Show information about all available projects.

download

Description: Download Backdrop contrib projects together with dependencies.
Aliases: dl , pm-download
Arguments:

• projects - One or more contrib projects to download.

Options:

• --github-token - A Github Personal Access Token (Classic) that can be used to extend the GitHub API rate.
• --hide-progress, -h - Deprecated, will get removed in a future version.
• --allow-multisite-copy, -f - Override the check that would prevent the project being downloaded to a multisite site if the project exists in the shared project directory.

Examples:

• bee download webform - Download the Webform module.
• bee download simplify thesis bamboo - Download the Simplify module, Thesis theme, and Bamboo layout.
• bee --site=site_name download simplify --allow-multisite-copy - Download an additional copy of the Simplify module into the site_name multisite module folder.

enable

Description: Enable one or more projects (modules, themes, layouts).
Aliases: en , pm-enable
Arguments:

• projects - One or more (space separated) projects to enable.

Options:

• --no-dependency-checking, -n - Disable dependency-checking and enable module(s) regardless. This could cause problems if there are missing dependencies. Use with caution.

Examples:

• bee enable webform - Enable the Webform module.
• bee enable --no-dependency-checking rules - Enable the Rules module, regardless of whether or not its dependencies are available.
• bee enable simplify thesis bamboo - Enable the Simplify module, Thesis theme, and Bamboo layout.

disable

Description: Disable one or more projects (modules, themes, layouts).
Aliases: dis , pm-disable
Arguments:

• projects - One or more (space separated) projects to disable.

Options:

• --no-dependency-checking, -n - Disable dependency-checking and disable module(s) regardless. This could cause problems if there are other enabled modules that depend on this one. Use with caution.

Examples:

• bee disable webform - Disable the Webform module.
• bee disable --no-dependency-checking rules - Disable the Rules module, regardless of whether or not other modules depend on it.
• bee disable simplify thesis bamboo - Disable the Simplify module, Thesis theme, and Bamboo layout.

uninstall

Description: Uninstall one or more modules.
Aliases: pmu , pm-uninstall
Arguments:

• modules - One or more (space separated) modules to uninstall.

Options:

• --no-dependency-checking, -n - Disable dependency-checking and uninstall module(s) regardless. This could cause problems if there are other installed modules that depend on this one. Use with caution.

Examples:

• bee uninstall webform - Uninstall the Webform module.
• bee uninstall --no-dependency-checking rules - Uninstall the Rules module, regardless of whether or not other modules depend on it.
• bee uninstall simplify thesis bamboo - Uninstall the Simplify module, Thesis theme, and Bamboo layout.

Themes

theme-admin

Description: Set the admin theme.
Aliases: admin-theme
Arguments:

• theme - The theme to set as the admin theme. It will be enabled, if not already.

Examples:

• bee theme-admin basis - Set Basis as the admin theme.

theme-default

Description: Set the default theme.
Aliases: default-theme
Arguments:

• theme - The theme to set as the default theme. It will be enabled, if not already.

Examples:

• bee theme-default bartik - Set Bartik as the default theme.

theme-debug

Description: Enable or disable "Theme debug" for Backdrop.
Aliases:td

Arguments:

• value - (optional) A boolean value to enable (true/1) or disable (false/0) theme debug. Omitting the value will return the current theme debug status.

Examples:

• bee theme-debug true - Enable theme debug for the site (not case-sensitive).
• bee theme-debug FALSE - Disable theme debug for the site (not case-sensitive).
• bee theme-debug 1 - Enable theme debug for the site.
• bee theme-debug 0 - Disable theme debug for the site.
• bee theme-debug - Get the theme debug status for the site.

Information

version

Description: Display the current version of Bee.

Examples:

• bee version - Output the current version.

status

Description: Provides an overview of the current Backdrop installation/site.
Aliases: st , info , core-status
Options:
--show-password, -p - Show the database password.

Examples:

• bee status - Get an overview of the Backdrop installation.
• bee status --show-password - Include the database password in the overview.

log

Description: Show database log messages.
Aliases: ws , dblog , watchdog-show
Arguments:

• id - (optional) The ID of a log message to display in detail. Leave blank to list summaries of the most recent log messages.

Options:

• --count=NUMBER - The number of log messages to show. Default is 10.
• --severity=VALUE - Restrict list to messages of a given severity level.
• --type=TYPE - Restrict list to messages of a given type.

Examples:

• bee log 3551 - Show details about the log message with ID '3551'.
• bee log --count=25 --severity=error --type=php - Show the 25 latest PHP errors.
• bee log - Show the latest 10 log messages.

help

Description: Provide help and examples for 'bee' and its commands.
Arguments:

• command - (optional) The command to display help for. Leave blank to display help for 'bee' itself.

Examples:

• bee help status - Display help for the 'status' command.
• bee help - Display help for 'bee' itself.

changelog

Description: Display the current CHANGELOG of Bee.
Examples:

• bee changelog - Output the current CHANGELOG.

Core

download-core

Description: Download Backdrop core.
Aliases: dl-core
Arguments:

• directory - (optional) The directory to download and extract Backdrop into. Leave blank to use the current directory. Options:
• --github-token - A Github Personal Access Token (Classic) that can be used to extend the GitHub API rate.
• --hide-progress, -h - Deprecated, will get removed in a future version.

Examples:

• bee download-core ../backdrop - Download Backdrop into a 'backdrop' directory in the parent folder.

install

Description: Install Backdrop and setup a new site.
Aliases: si , site-install
Options:

• --db-name=DATABASE_NAME - The name of the database to install into.
• --db-user=DATABASE_USERNAME - The username for connecting to the database.
• --db-pass=DATABASE_PASSWORD - The password for connecting to the database.
• --db-host=DATABASE_HOST - The host for the database. Defaults to 'localhost' when a database name is provided.
• --username=USERNAME - The username for the primary administrator account. Defaults to 'admin'.
• --password=PASSWORD - The password for the primary administrator account. Defaults to a randomly-generated string.
• --email=EMAIL - The email address for the primary administrator account. Defaults to 'admin@example.com'.
• --site-name=NAME - The name of the site. Defaults to 'My Backdrop Site'.
• --site-mail=EMAIL - The 'From' address used in automated site emails. Defaults to 'admin@example.com'.
• --profile=PROFILE - The machine-name of the installation profile to use. Defaults to 'standard'.
• --langcode=LANGUAGE - The short code of the default site language. Language files must already be present. Defaults to 'en'.
• --db-prefix=PREFIX - The table prefix to use for this site in the database. Defaults to no prefix.
• --no-clean-urls, -n - Disable clean URLs.
• --auto, -a - Perform an automatic (i.e. non-interactive) installation. Any options not explicitly provided to the command will use default values, except the database connection string which will always prompt when not provided.

Examples:

• bee install - Install Backdrop in interactive mode, providing information when prompted.
• bee install --db-name=backdrop --db-user=admin --db-pass=P@ssw0rd! --auto - Install Backdrop automatically using the provided database credentials, and default settings for everything else.
• bee install --db-name=backdrop --db-user=admin --db-pass=P@ssw0rd! --db-host=db_server --username=Root --password=N0tS3cur3 --email=root@mydomain.com --site-name="My awesome site!" - Install Backdrop using the given options, and be prompted for the rest.

Update

update-db

Description: Show, and optionally apply, all pending database updates.
Aliases: updb , updbst , updatedb , updatedb-status
Examples:

• bee update-db - Show a list of any pending database updates. You will then be prompted to apply them.

update

TBC see https://github.com/backdrop-contrib/bee/issues/111

Database

db-export

Description: Export the database as a compressed SQL file (.sql.gz). This uses the --no-tablespaces option by default.
Aliases: dbex , db-dump , sql-export , sql-dump
Options:

• --extra=--MYSQLDUMPOPTIONS - (optional) additional mysqldump option(s) that should be used. Enclose multiple options in "". '--no-tablespaces' option is not used unless you add it.

Arguments:

• file - (optional) The SQL file where the exported database will be saved. Leave blank to use the current date/time as the filename.

Note: The path is always relative to the Backdrop root so if you want to export to a folder above this, use ../ and the filename.

Examples:

• bee db-export db.sql - Export the database to db.sql.gz.
• bee db-export - Export the database to [DATE_TIME].sql.gz.
• bee db-export --extra=" " db.sql - Export the database to db.sql.gz without using the '--no-tablespaces' option.
• bee db-export --extra="--no-data --no-tablespaces" db.sql Export the database without data, and using the '--no-tablespaces' option, to db.sql.gz.

db-import

Description: Import an SQL file into the current database. Aliases: dbim, sql-import

Arguments:

• file - The SQL file to import into the database. Can be gzipped (i.e. *.sql.gz).

Note: The path is always relative to the Backdrop root so if you want to import from a folder above this, use ../ and the filename.

Options:

• --mariadb-compatibility, `-mdbc`` - Recent MariaDB versions have started including a command to enable sandbox mode, which can cause issues for importing on older versions or into MySQL. Use this option to remove that string before import.

Examples:

• bee db-import backup.sql - Import backup.sql into the current database.
• bee db-import db.sql.gz - Extract and import db.sql into the current database.
• bee db-import ../db/db_export.sql.gz - Extract and import db_export.sql from folder ../db into the current database
• bee db-import db.sql.gz --mariadb-compatibility - Extract and import db.sql into the current database removing any MariaDB sandbox switch first.

db-drop

Description: Drop the current database and recreate an empty database with the same details. This could be used prior to import if the target database has more tables than the source database.
Aliases: sql-dropimport

Examples:

• bee db-drop - Drop the current database and recreate an empty database with the same details. You will then be prompted to confirm.
• bee --yes db-drop - Drop the current database and recreate an empty database with the same details. You will NOT be prompted to confirm.

Roles

permissions

Description: List all permissions of the modules. Aliases:pls, permissions-list Options:

• --module=MODULE - Get the permissions for this module.

Examples:

• bee permissions - Display a list of all permissions of the modules for the current site.
• bee permissions --module=node - Display a list of all permissions from the 'node' module for the current site.

roles

Description: List all roles with the permissions. Aliases:rls, roles-list Options:

• --role=ROLE - Get the permissions granted to this role.

Examples:

• bee roles - Display a list of all roles with the permissions for the current site.
• bee roles --role=editor - Display all the permissions for the editor role.

role-create

Description: Add a role. Aliases:rcrt

Arguments:

• role - Role to add.

Examples:

• bee role-create manager - Add role 'manager'.

role-delete

Description: Delete a role. Aliases:rdel

Arguments:

• role - Role to delete.

Examples:

• bee role-delete manager - Delete role 'manager'.

role-add-perm

Description: Grant specified permission(s) to a role. Aliases:rap

Arguments:

• permissions - Permissions
• role - Role

Examples:

• bee role-add-perm 'post comments' 'anonymous' - Allow anonymous users to post comments.
• bee role-add-perm "'view own unpublished content' , 'view any unpublished content' , 'view revisions'" 'anonymous' - Grant multiple permissions to the 'anonymous' role.

role-remove-perm

Description: Remove specified permission(s) from a role. Aliases:rrp

Arguments:

• permissions - Permissions
• role - Role

Examples:

• bee role-remove-perm 'access content' 'anonymous' - Hide content from anonymous users.
• bee role-remove-perm "'view own unpublished content' , 'view any unpublished content' , 'view revisions'" 'anonymous' - Remove multiple permissions from the 'anonymous' role.

Users

user-create

Description: Create a user account with the specified name.
Aliases: ucrt
Arguments:

• username - The username of the account being created.

Options:

• --mail=EMAIL - The email address for the new account; it must be unique and valid in this installation.
• --password=PASSWORD - The password for the new account.

Examples:

• bee user-create joe --mail=joe@example.com - Create the 'joe' user account. A random password will be generated.
• bee user-create joe --mail=joe@example.com --password=P@55w0rd - Create the 'joe' user account with a defined password.
• bee user-create joe --mail=joe@example.com --password="Correct Horse Battery Staple" - Create the 'joe' user account with a pass phrase that has spaces.

user-cancel

Description: Cancel/remove a user.
Aliases: ucan
Arguments:

• username - The username of the account to cancel/remove.

Examples:

• bee user-cancel joe - Cancel/remove the 'joe' user account.

user-block

Description: Block a user.
Aliases: ublk
Arguments:

• username - The username of the account to block.

Examples:

• bee user-block joe - Block the 'joe' user account.

user-unblock

Description: Unblock a user.
Aliases: uublk
Arguments:

• username - The username of the account to unblock.

Examples:

• bee user-block joe - Unblock the 'joe' user account.

user-add-role

Description: Add role to user.
Aliases: urole, urol
Arguments:

• role - Role to add.
• username - The username of the account to add role to.

Examples:

• bee user-add-role editor joe - Add role 'editor' to account 'joe'.

user-remove-role

Description: Remove a role from a user.
Aliases: urrole,urrol
Arguments:

• role - Role to remove.
• username - The username of the account to remove the role from.

Examples:

• bee user-remove-role joe editor - Remove role 'editor' from account joe.

user-login

Description: Display a one-time login link for a given user.
Aliases: uli
Arguments:

• username - (optional) The username of the user account to login as. Leave blank to login as User 1.

Examples:

• bee user-login bob - Generate and display a one-time login link for the user account named 'bob'.
• bee user-login - Generate and display a one-time login link for User 1.
• bee user-login --base-url=https://www.example.com - Generate and display a one-time login link for User 1, setting the base-url option.

user-password

Description: Reset the login password for a given user.
Aliases: upw , upwd
Arguments:

• username - The username of the user account to reset the password for.
• password - (optional) The new password to use for the given user account. Leave blank to generate a random password.

Examples:

• bee user-password admin P@55w0rd - Give the 'admin' user account an insecure password (not recommended).
• bee user-password drop "Too hard to guess, too long to brute-force." - Give the 'drop' user account a secure password.
• bee user-password "Joe Bloggs" - Give the 'Joe Bloggs' user account a random password.

users

Description: List all user accounts.
Aliases: uls , user-list
Examples:

• bee users - Display a list of all user accounts for the current site.

Miscellaneous

cache-clear

Description: Clear a specific cache, or all Backdrop caches.
Aliases: cc
Arguments:

• cache - (optional) The name of the cache to clear. Leave blank to see a list of available caches.

Examples:

• bee cache-clear menu - Clear the menu cache.
• bee cache-clear all - Clear all caches.
• bee cache-clear css_js - Clear the CSS & JS cache.
• bee cache-clear - Select the cache to clear from a list of available options:

0. All (default)
1. Core (page, admin bar, etc.)
2. CSS & JS
3. Entity
4. Layout
5. Menu
6. Module
7. Theme
8. Token
9. Update

cron

Description: Run cron.
Examples:

• bee cron - Initiate a cron run.

maintenance-mode

Description: Enable or disable maintenance mode for Backdrop.
Aliases: mm
Arguments:

• value - (optional) A boolean value to enable (true/1) or disable (false/0) maintenance mode. Omitting the value will return the current maintenance mode status.

Examples:

• bee maintenance-mode true - Enable maintenance mode for the site (not case-sensitive).
• bee maintenance-mode FALSE - Disable maintenance mode for the site (not case-sensitive).
• bee maintenance-mode 1 - Enable maintenance mode for the site.
• bee maintenance-mode 0 - Disable maintenance mode for the site.
• bee maintenance-mode - Get the maintenance mode status for the site.

State

state-get

Description: Get the value of a Backdrop state.
Aliases: sg, sget
Arguments:

• state - The name of the state to get.

Examples:

• bee state-get maintenance_mode - Get the value of the 'maintenance_mode' state.

state-set

Description: Set the value of an existing Backdrop state.
Aliases: ss, sset
Arguments:

• state - The name of the state to set.
• value - The value to set the state to.

Examples:

• bee state-set maintenance_mode 1 - Set the value of the 'maintenance_mode' state to '1' (enabled).
• bee state-set database_utf8mb4_active TRUE - Set the value of the 'database_utf8mb4_active' state to 'TRUE'.

Advanced

eval

Description: Evaluate (run/execute) arbitrary PHP code after bootstrapping Backdrop.
Aliases: ev , php-eval
Arguments:

• code - The PHP code to evaluate.

Examples:

• bee eval '$node = node_load(1); print $node->title;' - Loads node with nid 1 and then prints its title.
• bee eval "node_access_rebuild();" - Rebuild node access permissions.
• bee eval "file_unmanaged_copy('$HOME/Pictures/image.jpg', 'public://image.jpg');" - Copies a file whose path is determined by an environment's variable. Note the use of double quotes so the variable $HOME gets replaced by its value.

php-script

Description: Execute an arbitrary PHP file after bootstrapping Backdrop.
Aliases: scr
Arguments:

• file - The file you wish to execute with extension and path. The path to the file should be relative to the Backdrop site root directory, or the absolute path.

Examples:

• bee php-script ../my-scripts/scratch.php - Run scratch.php script relative to the Backdrop root.
• bee scr /var/www/my-scripts/scratch.php - Run scratch.php script with the absolute path.

sql

Description: Open an SQL command-line interface using Backdrop's database credentials.
Aliases: sqlc , sql-cli , db-cli
Examples:

• bee sql - Open a command-line for the current database.
• bee sql < ../backup.sql - Use SQL statements in a file to import data into the current database.
• bee sql < ../scripts/sanitize.sql - Use SQL statements in a file to complete operations with the current database.

db-query

Description: Execute a query using db_query().
Aliases: dbq
Examples:

• bee db-query "SELECT * FROM {users} WHERE uid = 1" - Browse user record. Note that table prefixes are honored.
• bee db-query "UPDATE {users} SET mail = 'me@example.com' WHERE uid = 1" - Update a user's email address.
• bee db-query "DELETE FROM {users} WHERE uid = 2" - Delete a user record from the db.
• bee db-query "SELECT name, mail FROM {users} WHERE uid > 0 LIMIT 2" - Show the name and email for the first 2 users.