CLI

The jops-core npm package includes a command line tool for setting up projects, copying the library into them and building for production. Run it with npx in a project where jops-core is installed:

npm install jops-core
npx jops-core init

Commands

Command	Description
npx jops-core init	Asks for a template, vendors the library and configures the project for its type (web, Cordova, Capacitor, Electron), or creates a Next.js or Electron project from a template
npx jops-core init --wp	Installs the JOPS WordPress plugin (no template menu)
npx jops-core update	Copies jops-core.min.js from node_modules into the project; also refreshes an installed JOPS WordPress plugin
npx jops-core build	Generates a production-ready dist/ folder (web projects)

Running npx jops-core without a command prints the usage text.

Options

Option	Commands	Description
--cordova, --capacitor, --electron, --web	init, update	Override the detected project type. --web treats the current folder as a plain web app
--wp	init	Install the JOPS WordPress plugin
--wp-root <path>	init, update	WordPress folder to use instead of searching for one. Implies --wp. --wp-root=<path> also works
--no-update-check	all	Skip the check for a newer jops-core version

init

npx jops-core init

init first asks which template to start from, then detects the project type and writes the files.

Template menu

Choice	Template
1	Empty JOPS project: the basic skeleton of a JOPS app
2	Hello World JOPS project: an example app using every feature
3	Next.js JOPS Embedded SPA: a Next.js project hosting a JOPS SPA
4	Electron JOPS Desktop App: an Electron Forge project whose UI is a JOPS SPA
5	None: only the library, index.html and scripts

Choices 1, 2 and 5 configure the current project for its type. Choices 3 and 4 create a whole project in the current folder (an empty folder or a fresh npm project).

What init does per project type

Web

The default when no other project type is detected.

• Vendors the library to lib/jops-core.min.js.
• Writes index.html with the "jops-core" import map and the module script (data-app="./src/App.js").
• Copies the chosen template (src/, assets).
• Adds .vscode/settings.json for HTML highlighting in layout`…` templates (see Editor setup).
• Adds "build" and "postinstall": "jops-core update" scripts to package.json.

Every step checks first, so running init again never duplicates anything. When input ends without an answer to the template question (CI, Docker), init uses 5 (None). Projects created before 1.1.8 have "postinstall": "npx jops-core init", which shows the template question on every npm install (since 1.1.8 it uses 5, None, when nobody answers; before, npm install failed in CI). Change it to "postinstall": "jops-core update".

Cordova / Capacitor

Detected from config.xml (Cordova) or capacitor.config.* (Capacitor). Run it from the project root (running it inside the web folder works too).

	Cordova	Capacitor
index.html, lib/, template	www/	the webDir from capacitor.config.*
.vscode/ and package.json scripts	project root	project root
viewport-fit=cover	✓	✓
Content-Security-Policy	adds 'unsafe-inline' and blob: to script-src	—
<script src="cordova.js">	✓	—
iOS custom scheme in config.xml	✓ (app://localhost)	—
"build" script	— (use cordova build)	— (use npx cap sync)
"postinstall": "jops-core update"	✓	✓

With templates 1 or 2, Cordova’s sample www/index.html is renamed to www/index.cordova.html and replaced by a JOPS page. See Mobile.

Electron

Detected from electron in package.json.

• Choice 4 writes an Electron Forge project (main process, preload, a JOPS renderer with a sidebar and <Router jops screens>), merges its dependencies and scripts into an existing package.json (existing entries are kept), vendors the library to src/lib/ and runs npm install. It refuses to run in a folder that already has an Electron project and changes nothing there.
• Choices 1, 2 and 5 in an existing Electron project: the web folder is the folder of the page the main process loads (src/ in Forge’s default template). The library goes to <web folder>/lib/, Forge’s sample page is moved to index.forge.html and replaced by a JOPS index.html (a page you already changed is patched instead), templates are copied with page-relative paths, jops-core moves to devDependencies and a jops:update script is added. No build or postinstall script.

Forge’s vite and webpack templates are not supported. See Electron.

Next.js

Choice 3 writes a Next.js project into the current folder: a React-only page, a page that renders <JopsApp>, a Route Handler, the JOPS SPA in public/jops-spa/ and the library in public/lib/. It merges dependencies and scripts into an existing package.json (existing entries are kept) and runs npm install.

It refuses to run in a folder that already has a Next.js project (next.config.*, tsconfig.json, src/app) and changes nothing there. To add JOPS to an existing Next.js app, use npx jops-core update and JopsApp (see Next.js).

init –wp

npx jops-core init --wp
npx jops-core init --wp-root ../wordpress

Installs the JOPS WordPress plugin (the [jops] shortcode and the jops-core library):

• wp-env project (a folder with .wp-env.json): writes the plugin to plugins/jops/ and adds "./plugins/jops" to .wp-env.json. npx wp-env start then installs and activates it.
• Otherwise: searches the current folder and the folders above it for WordPress (wp-load.php + wp-content/, or Bedrock’s web/wp/ + web/app/) and writes the plugin to its plugins folder. --wp-root <path> points to WordPress directly. Activate the plugin in wp-admin afterwards.

It stops without changes when the plugin is already installed (use update), and warns when package.json sits in the WordPress root, where node_modules/ would be served publicly. See WordPress.

update

npm i jops-core@latest
npx jops-core update

Copies the installed jops-core.min.js from node_modules into the project:

Project	Destination
Web	lib/jops-core.min.js
Cordova / Capacitor	lib/ in the web folder (www/ or webDir)
Next.js (next.config.*)	public/lib/jops-core.min.js
Electron	src/lib/jops-core.min.js (the web folder’s lib/)
WordPress plugin installed	refreshes the plugin and its library

Note

update copies whatever version is in node_modules. Run npm i jops-core@latest first, otherwise it has no effect. Learn more: Updating.

build

npx jops-core build

Generates a clean dist/ folder from the project’s web files, ready to serve (see Production). It warns when lib/jops-core.min.js doesn’t match the installed jops-core version.

Skipped in projects that ship their web folder as is: Cordova (use cordova build), Capacitor (use npx cap sync) and Electron (use npm run make).

Update check

After each command, the CLI checks npm for a newer jops-core and prints a notice when one is available. The check takes at most 1.5 seconds and is silent when offline. Turn it off with --no-update-check or JOPS_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1; it is skipped automatically when the CI environment variable is set.