CLI reference

Complete your first release, then use this command reference. Run commands from the app root. Backslash continuations are for Bash / zsh; use a single line in PowerShell.

Install

npm install -g rn-update-cli

After installation, invoke commands via pakta <command>. Requires Node.js ≥18.17. For login and first setup see Publishing.

Command quick reference

pakta list prints available commands. Use the canonical option names below.

bundle

Generate a .ppk update package (JS bundle and assets only):

pakta bundle --platform android --output .pakta/output/android.ppk --no-interactive

Key options:

• --platform ios|android|harmony — target platform.

• --output — .ppk output path; pin it to avoid timestamped filenames.

• --entryFile — entry script (index.js by default; inferred for Expo).

• --dev true — build a development bundle.

• --sourcemap / generated by default — Hermes projects get the final mapping composed automatically.

• --hermesBase auto|none|<path> — Hermes baseline strategy; auto reuses historical baselines to shrink patches, none disables, or pass an explicit .hbc/.ppk/.apk/.ipa.

• --expo — bundle for Expo projects.

• --name — when present, publishing starts right after bundling.

publish

pakta publish <ppk-path> \
  --platform android --name fix-001 \
  --channel default --packageVersion 1.0.0 --rollout 10 \
  --sourcemap .pakta/intermedia/android/index.bundlejs.map

• Pick one target form: --targets targets.json (multi-channel), --packageId (resolve a target from a native package ID), or --channel + --packageVersion (single target).

• Omitting --rollout means 100%; per-line rollout in targets.json overrides the global value.

• --dryRun preflight: resolves targets and percentages without writing anything.

• --deploymentIds id1,id2: exact retry of failed deployments.

• --sourcemap: archive the sourcemap for later symbolicate.

A publish produces two independent objects: the slim native baseline registered at upload time and the .ppk uploaded now; the full store binary is never uploaded as-is. After publishing, the platform creates differential jobs in one transaction for every exact build in the channel × native version group; until jobs finish, checkUpdate falls back to the full package.

Versions and diffs

pakta versions                     # list versions

Local hdiff/hdiffFromApk/hdiffFromIpa/hdiffFromApp only produce patch files; to attach a patch to an exact native build, register it afterwards via registerPdiff (bound precisely by deploymentId + nativeVersionId, never mis-delivered to another build of the same version).

Diagnostics

pakta symbolicate stack.txt --platform android --hash <UPDATE_HASH>

hash comes from the SDK's getUpdateMetadata().currentVersion; --versionId works too, and - reads the stack from stdin. cache clean removes the local Hermes baseline cache.

Environment variables

Programmatic API

Build scripts can skip the command line and use the exported provider directly:

import { CLIProviderImpl } from 'rn-update-cli';

const provider = new CLIProviderImpl();
const bundle = await provider.bundle({
  platform: 'android',
  output: '.pakta/output/android.ppk',
  sourcemap: true,
});
if (!bundle.success) throw new Error(bundle.error);

const release = await provider.publish({
  filePath: '.pakta/output/android.ppk',
  sourcemap: '.pakta/intermedia/android/index.bundlejs.map',
  platform: 'android',
  name: 'fix-001',
  targets: 'targets.json',
});
if (!release.success) throw new Error(release.error);

Results are CommandResult objects — check success before consuming data.

IDs that look similar

The publish --packageId input is a native package ID used to resolve a target. The returned packageId identifies the update package. Do not feed the output ID into that option. Prefer targets.json for multiple targets and returned deploymentIds for retries.