haft init

Initialize a new Spring Boot project with an interactive wizard or command-line flags.

Usage

haft init [name] [flags]

Description

The init command creates a new Spring Boot project. When run without flags, it launches an interactive TUI wizard that guides you through the configuration.

The wizard presents all dependencies from Spring Initializr organized by category (Web, SQL, Security, etc.) with descriptions and search functionality.

Examples

Interactive Mode (Recommended)

haft init

Launches the full interactive wizard.

With Project Name

haft init my-app

Starts the wizard with the project name pre-filled.

Non-Interactive Mode

haft init my-app \
  --group com.example \
  --artifact my-app \
  --java 21 \
  --spring 3.4.0 \
  --build maven \
  --deps web,data-jpa,lombok \
  --no-interactive

Creates a project without any prompts.

Quick Start with Defaults

haft init my-api -g com.company -j 21

Uses defaults for unspecified options.

Flags

Flag	Short	Description	Default
--group	-g	Group ID (e.g., com.example)	com.example*
--artifact	-a	Artifact ID	Project name*
--java	-j	Java version (17, 21, 25)	21*
--spring	-s	Spring Boot version	Latest stable*
--build	-b	Build tool (maven, gradle, gradle-kotlin)	maven*
--deps		Dependencies (comma-separated)	None
--package		Base package name	Auto-generated*
--packaging		Packaging type (jar, war)	jar*
--config		Config format (properties, yaml)	yaml*
--description		Project description	Empty
--dir	-d	Output directory	Current directory
--no-interactive		Skip interactive wizard	false
--json		Output result as JSON	false

*Defaults shown are wizard pre-selections. When using --no-interactive, these become required values if not explicitly provided.

Global Flags

Flag	Description
--verbose	Enable verbose output
--no-color	Disable colored output

Wizard Steps

The interactive wizard guides you through 12 configuration steps:

Step	Field	Description
1	Project Name	Name of your application
2	Group ID	Maven group (e.g., com.example)
3	Artifact ID	Maven artifact name
4	Description	Project description
5	Package Name	Base package (auto-generated from group + artifact)
6	Java Version	17 (LTS), 21 (LTS - Recommended), or 25
7	Spring Boot	Select from available versions
8	Build Tool	Maven, Gradle (Groovy), or Gradle (Kotlin DSL)
9	Packaging	JAR or WAR
10	Config Format	Properties or YAML
11	Dependencies	Search and select from all Spring starters
12	Git Init	Initialize a Git repository

Dependency Selection

The dependency picker provides:

• Search: Press / to search by name or description
• Categories: Press Tab to cycle, or 0-9 to jump directly
• Selection: Press Space to toggle, Enter to confirm

Available Categories

Key	Category	Examples
0	All	Show all dependencies
1	Developer Tools	DevTools, Lombok, Configuration Processor
2	Web	Spring Web, WebFlux, GraphQL
3	SQL	JPA, JDBC, MySQL, PostgreSQL
4	NoSQL	MongoDB, Redis, Elasticsearch
5	Security	Spring Security, OAuth2
6	Messaging	Kafka, RabbitMQ
7	Cloud	Config, Discovery, Gateway
8	Observability	Actuator, Micrometer
9	Testing	Testcontainers

Generated Structure

Maven Project

my-app/
├── src/
│   ├── main/
│   │   ├── java/
│   │   │   └── com/example/myapp/
│   │   │       └── MyAppApplication.java
│   │   └── resources/
│   │       └── application.yml
│   └── test/
│       └── java/
│           └── com/example/myapp/
│               └── MyAppApplicationTests.java
├── .gitignore
├── .haft.json
├── mvnw
├── mvnw.cmd
└── pom.xml

Gradle Project

my-app/
├── src/
│   ├── main/
│   │   ├── java/
│   │   │   └── com/example/myapp/
│   │   │       └── MyAppApplication.java
│   │   └── resources/
│   │       └── application.yml
│   └── test/
│       └── java/
│           └── com/example/myapp/
│               └── MyAppApplicationTests.java
├── gradle/
│   └── wrapper/
│       └── gradle-wrapper.properties
├── .gitignore
├── .haft.json
├── build.gradle          # or build.gradle.kts for Kotlin DSL
├── settings.gradle       # or settings.gradle.kts for Kotlin DSL
├── gradlew
└── gradlew.bat

Exit Codes

Code	Description
0	Success
1	Error (invalid flags, generation failed)

Editor Integration

Use this command from your editor:

• Neovim: Not yet available in haft.nvim (CLI only)
• VS Code: Coming soon (preview →)
• IntelliJ IDEA: Coming soon (preview →)

See Also

• Wizard Navigation — Keyboard shortcuts
• Dependencies — Dependency details
• Project Structure — Generated file details