mn

micronaut CLI for scaffolding applications and generating code

TLDR

Create a new application

$ mn create-app [com.example.myapp]

Create with specific features

$ mn create-app [com.example.myapp] --features [postgres,hibernate-jpa]

Create a function

$ mn create-function [com.example.myfunction]

Create a CLI application

$ mn create-cli-app [com.example.mycli]

Generate a controller

$ mn create-controller [User]

Generate a service bean

$ mn create-bean [UserService]

List available features

$ mn feature-diff --features

Start interactive mode

$ mn

mn is the Micronaut CLI for scaffolding applications and generating code. Micronaut is a JVM framework for building cloud-native microservices.create-app generates a project with build files, application class, and configuration. Features add dependencies and configuration automatically.Micronaut uses compile-time dependency injection—no reflection at runtime. This enables fast startup and low memory, especially with GraalVM native images.Code generators (create-controller, create-bean, etc.) add classes following Micronaut conventions. Generated code includes annotations for injection, HTTP routing, and testing.Interactive mode provides tab completion for commands and features. Use feature-diff to see what a feature adds to the project.

PARAMETERS

--features list

Comma-separated feature list.

--build tool

Build tool: gradle (default), gradle-kotlin, maven.

--lang language

Language: java (default), kotlin, groovy.

--jdk version

Target JDK version.

--test framework

Test framework: junit, spock, kotest.

--inplace

Create in current directory.

-i, --interactive

Interactive mode.

COMMANDS

create-app name

Create new Micronaut application.

create-function name

Create serverless function project.

create-cli-app name

Create CLI application.

create-grpc-app name

Create gRPC application.

create-messaging-app name

Create messaging application.

create-controller name

Generate controller class.

create-bean name

Generate service bean.

create-client name

Generate HTTP client.

create-job name

Generate scheduled job.

create-test name

Generate test class.

feature-diff

Compare feature differences.

FEATURES

data-jdbc, data-jpa, hibernate-jpa

Database access options.

postgres, mysql, h2

Database drivers.

security-jwt, security-oauth2

Security features.

kafka, rabbitmq, nats

Messaging integration.

graalvm

Native image support.

openapi

OpenAPI/Swagger documentation.

graphql

GraphQL support.

INSTALL

sudo apt install mininet

sudo dnf install mininet

sudo zypper install mininet

nix profile install nixpkgs#mininet

CAVEATS

Compile-time DI requires annotation processors configured correctly. Some features may conflict. Native image requires GraalVM and additional configuration. Generator creates files in conventional locations.

HISTORY

Micronaut was created by Graeme Rocher (creator of Grails) at Object Computing, Inc. and released in 2018. It was designed to address startup time and memory issues in traditional frameworks like Spring. Micronaut pioneered compile-time DI in the Java ecosystem. Version 4.0 (2023) brought modular architecture. The framework is popular for serverless and Kubernetes deployments.

mn