PKGSmith
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CLI

Use PKGSmith from the command line

Install PKGSmith from Homebrew to get the pkgsmith command on your PATH. The installed CLI is build-only and is designed for repeatable local builds and CI jobs from existing .pkgsmith project files.

Install

Install PKGSmith with Homebrew to putpkgsmith on your PATH. That installed command is the supported CLI entry point for local automation and CI.

brew install --cask fogh/cask/pkgsmith

Usage

Build from an existing project file

PKGSmith currently exposes one CLI subcommand:build. It reads a.pkgsmith file and prints the built artifact path to stdout on success.

pkgsmith build \
  --reference <path> \
  --output <dir> \
  [--version <version>] [--json] \
  [-q|--quiet] [-v|--verbose]

Inspect help

pkgsmith --help

Version

pkgsmith --version

Build flags

-r, --reference <path>
Required. Path to the .pkgsmith project file to build.
-o, --output <dir>
Required. Output directory where PKGSmith writes the built artifact.
--version <version>
Optional. Overrides the project version for the current build only.
--json
Prints a machine-readable JSON result to stdout instead of a plain artifact path.
-q, --quiet
Suppresses progress logs on stderr and leaves stdout for the final result only.
-v, --verbose
Prints additional progress messages to stderr during the build.
-h, --help
Shows CLI help. Supported globally and after the build subcommand.

I/O contract

stdout

Prints the final artifact path by default. With--json, stdout becomes a single JSON object instead.

stderr

Progress logs and build tool output are written to stderr unless--quiet is set.

Exit codes

PKGSmith exits with 0 on success, 1 when the build fails, and 2 for invalid CLI usage.

Examples

Common CLI flows

Need the app binary?

Build a project into a release folder

pkgsmith build --reference "./Marketing-PKG.pkgsmith" --output "./build/releases"

Override the version for a one-off build

pkgsmith build --reference "./Marketing-PKG.pkgsmith" --output "./build/releases" --version 2.3.4

Emit machine-readable JSON for automation

pkgsmith build --reference "./Marketing-PKG.pkgsmith" --output "./build/releases" --json

Suppress progress logs and print only the artifact path

pkgsmith build --reference "./Marketing-PKG.pkgsmith" --output "./build/releases" --quiet

Show verbose progress on stderr while keeping stdout clean

pkgsmith build --reference "./Marketing-PKG.pkgsmith" --output "./build/releases" --verbose

JSON mode

Use --json when a script needs to capture the result without parsing human log lines. Progress still goes to stderr unless quiet mode is also enabled.

{"artifactPath":"/Users/me/build/releases/MyInstaller.pkg","artifactType":"pkg"}

CI / scripting

For scripts, combine --json with--quiet so stdout contains only the machine-readable result.

Notes

  • The CLI builds from an existing project file. It does not create or edit .pkgsmith files.
  • Both space-separated flags and equals syntax such as --reference=Project.pkgsmith are supported.
  • After installing with Homebrew, inspect the full surface with pkgsmith --help.